Military lands in northern Manitoba First Nation dealing with water woes

“The water plant that we have is still out of commission, and we have the army coming to help us.”

Pimicikamak Cree Nation Chief David Monias provided an update Monday afternoon as the Northern Manitoba First Nation continues to deal with the fallout and repairs following a day-long power outage.

Seven Canadian Military personel arrived on Monday morning; their first task was fixing one of the two water treatment plants in the area, which remains out of commission.

“These guys are specialists that are in town right now, they’re specialists with engineering, so they’re there to assess and identify what needs to be fixed and come up with the logistics and project management in terms of what needs to be fixed, how long,  how much money its going to take and how many resources its going to take,” said Chief Monias.

Chief Monias says getting the treatment plant back online is essential, as many in the community don’t currently have access to clean water.

“Some of the houses (have raw water running) basically right, so it’s untreated, so we ask people if you have water, boil it, because we can’t guarantee that the water is going to be safe.”

Meanwhile, plumbers and carpenters continue to do what they can to fix plumbing and flooding issues in the community. According to Chief Monias, just about every house will require repairs of some kind. He says as of Monday, around 80 tradespeople were working on the ground, with up to 50 more expected to come.

After visiting the First Nation last week, Premier Wab Kinew says he’s happy to see the first wave of Canadian Armed Forces arrive, with a second group expected on January 14^th.

“CAF has that logistical ability to just triage, assess, coordinate, and then deploy, because we have a lot of resources heading into the community, let’s just make sure they’re coordinated so people can come home soon,” said Premier Kinew.

“I just want to see people be able to return home.”

Approximately 4,400 residents remain displaced. This is the third time in less than a year that the community has been evacuated, after being impacted by wildfires, twice.

“So we returned everybody back in September, settled in about October, then in December we had to evacuate again, and people are not happy. Everyone wants to go home,” said Chief Monais.

-With files from the Canadian Press