Since 1947, Fox Lake has been requesting reserve land in the Gillam area. Inaction from the federal government allowed Manitoba Hydro Electric Board to claim all lands in and around Gillam for Nelson River Power Development, near the Conawpa site.
Without reserve land Fox Lake was unable to participate in the Northern Flood Agreement in which Manitoba Hydro and the provincial and federal governments agreed to compensate five other Manitoba First Nations impacted by Hydro development.
Chief Neepin once said “a Gillam Reserve would have given our community some much needed cohesion and legitimacy during the troubled decades of Hydro development.”
Manitoba Hydro is actively seeking new export opportunities of hydro electricity to neighbouring provinces and States. The Conawapa dam is considered key to Manitoba’s economic future with preliminary design and fieldwork already well underway.
