Parks Canada is laying false blame: First Nation demands apology

Kawartha Nishnawbe First Nation members say Parks Canada is falsely blaming them for causing the postponement of the Burleigh Falls dam replacement project — and they want an apology.

On Friday, Parks Canada announced that the replacement project had been deferred indefinitely.

In a news release, the federal agency said that while the Trent-Severn Waterway dam is in poor condition and in need of replacement, recent inspections determined that it does not pose any immediate risk to the public.

The press release did not explicitly state why the project is being put on hold, but Parks Canada said it will “continue to work on Indigenous consultations.”

In January, Kawartha Nishnawbe community members staged a blockade at the dam site, halting preliminary construction work on the project.

They said Parks Canada had failed to consult with community members over the project. The blockade ended 19 days later after Parks Canada agreed to consult with the community going forward on the replacement project.

In a letter sent to Kawartha Nishnawbe council from Parks Canada on Friday — the same day the deferral announcement was made — the agency says that, based on a June 30 meeting, it understands Kawartha Nishnawbe won’t support the project unless “Parks Canada initiates the process to transfer title of the house and land it owns adjacent to the dam” and “either Kawartha Nishnawbe are included as a member in the Trent-Severn Waterway-Williams Treaties First Nations Steering Committee, or, failing that, Parks Canada ceases to participate in this body.”

“It is evident that neither of these issues is resolvable by Kawartha Nishnawbe in the short term, and with increasing construction challenges, Parks Canada has made the decision to terminate the current construction contract and defer the project,” the letter states from Parks Canada.

But Kawartha Nishnawbe says Parks Canada’s understanding about what the community wants is “fundamentally incorrect.”

“We are frankly perplexed as to how you and your staff came to the conclusions that you did,” states Christopher Reid, a lawyer representing Kawartha Nishnawbe, in a letter responding to Parks Canada.

Kawartha Nishnawbe says Parks Canada is alleging that the project was deferred because of demands made by the community, when no such demands were ever made.

Reid states that Kawartha Nishnawbe councillors suggested transferring the property title as a gesture of good faith and reconciliation.

“This was never stated as a pre-condition for either continuing consultations or for proceeding with the dam replacement project,” Reid states.

The same goes for Kawartha Nishnawbe’s inclusion in the Trent-Severn Waterway-Williams Treaties First Nations Steering Committee, according to Reid.

“At no time did any of the councillors or myself state that the inclusion of Kawartha Nishnawbe in (the committee) is a pre-condition,” he writes.

“It appears to us that Parks Canada has simply made the decision to defer the project for its own reasons, having nothing to do with Kawartha Nishnawbe, and then further made the decision to mischaracterize the position of Kawartha Nishnawbe in order to assign blame for the deferring of the project on Kawartha Nishnawbe,” the letter to Parks Canada states.

Parks Canada’s mischaracterization of Kawartha Nishnawbe’s stance is the result of another failure by the agency to consult with the community, said Reid.