A remote Oji-Cree community in northwestern Ontario has been without power since Friday, resulting in water pipes freezing in about 30 per cent of the First Nation’s homes.
Nibinamik First Nation, also known as Summer Beaver, is about 500 kilometres north of Thunder Bay. Just over 100 people live there.
Walter Oskineegish, a band councillor for Nibinamik, told CBC News on Tuesday that the community has four main generators. Of these, only one is working — but it’s too weak to power the entire community.
Replacement parts had to be ordered from St. Paul, Minn., and first be flown to Winnipeg before they arrived in Nibinamik on Tuesday, he said.
Power was hoped to be restored by late Tuesday afternoon.
CBC News has reached out to Indigenous Services Canada and is awaiting a response.
Since the power outages first occurred, Oskineegish says temperatures have reached -30 C, nearing -40 C with the wind chill.
Nibinamik has been under a state of emergency since May 2020 due to ongoing issues with its diesel generating system.
“Frequent power outages being experienced on a daily basis have widespread impacts, creating serious and unmanageable levels of risk for community members,” the emergency declaration from 2020 reads.
Nearly six years later, these challenges have continued, said Oskineegish.
A meeting is scheduled to take place in mid-March about potentially connecting Nibinamik to the provincial power grid through the Wataynikaneyap Transmission Project, he said.
This initiative has provided power to more than a dozen First Nations so far, with the goal of reducing communities’ reliance on diesel fuel.
However, if Nibinamik decides it wants to participate in the project, Oskineegish said it could take years before that work is completed.
Until then, he said, he wants to see more generators set up in Nibinamik to prevent future blackouts.
“The community is growing fast and when a community grows, you need more, bigger generators,” he said.
For now, Oskineegish is in Thunder Bay helping co-ordinate portable generators and essential supplies to be flown up to his First Nation. Neighbouring communities have also stepped up to help, he said.
“It is stressful,” he said. “The recovery of the community might take … maybe at least a couple months, probably, before all these homes that are frozen thaw out.”
