Lawsuit by Manitoba chiefs urges Lake Winnipeg be legally defined as a person

By The Canadian Press on September 19, 2024.

Netley Creek and The Red River enter Lake Winnipeg just north of Winnipeg, Sunday, May 15, 2022. A Manitoba court is being asked to declare Lake Winnipeg a person with Constitutional rights to life, liberty and security of person. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods/POOL

WINNIPEG – A Manitoba court is being asked to declare Lake Winnipeg a person with Constitutional rights to life, liberty and security of person.

The contention is contained in a lawsuit filed by the province’s Southern Chiefs Organization, which hopes to use the lawsuit to force the government to hold public hearings on Manitoba Hydro’s licence renewal to continue regulating the lake’s waters for power generation.

The lawsuit says Lake Winnipeg, one of the world’s largest, has a spirit, is alive and is suffering.

It cites declines in the lake’s fish, wildlife and vegetation, as well as problems with algae, E. coli bacteria and invasive species.

The lawsuit blames those problems on Manitoba Hydro’s manipulation of water levels, which reverses natural flows and prevents the lake from flushing itself clean.

No statements of defence have been filed.

The lawsuit is latest attempt to establish rights for natural bodies.

The Innu First Nation in Quebec has declared personhood for the Magpie River and Alberta’s Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation has sought the same for the Athabasca River.

Neither claim has been tested in court.