tansi ninôtemik,
How do you define a person or a living entity? Are all such entities entitled to the rights laid out in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms? The Southern Chiefs’ Organization (SCO) certainly plan on proving so.
In a historic statement of claim, the SCO are taking Manitoba Hydro and the Manitoba provincial government to court.[1] The SCO is challenging section 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to declare legal personhood for Lake Winnipeg, traditionally Weeniibiikiisagaygun.[2] Section 7 guarantees the right to life, liberty, and security of the person.[3] As such, the SCO hopes to solidify Lake Winnipeg as a living entity to ensure protection and survival after decades of intervention by Manitoba Hydro.[4]
The SCO is an independent political organization representing 33 Anishinaabe and Dakota Nations, and over 87,000 residents of southern Manitoba.[5] The organization’s members are comprised of descendants of the Anishinaabeg of Lake Winnipeg Basin – those who crucially relied on and took care of the Lake according to inherent Anishinaabe laws and teachings.[6] The SCO have had a long history advocating for issues related to the protection of water in southern Manitoba.[7] The SCO invited many Anishinaabe Elders and Knowledge Keepers as individual plaintiffs on the claim, specifically Elders Mary and Robert Maytwayashing as they are the Nibi Naa da maa geayuk – the ones who speak for and protect the Lake.[8]
The claim for legal personhood was incited after Manitoba Hydro applied to extend the term of its license for the Lake Winnipeg Regulation (LWR) project.[9] The LWR project artificially constrains water flow out of Lake Winnipeg in an effort to reduce shoreline flooding and optimize hydroelectric power generation.[10] The SCO claim that the LWR project has greatly impacted the health of the Lake by interrupting her natural flow pattern and has caused severe physical, psychological, and spiritual impacts on the wellbeing of those who have a living relationship with the Lake – the Anishinaabeg of the Lake Winnipeg Basin.[11]
The SCO advocate that the Charter challenge is a reasonable way to protect the Lake as she is unable to speak on her behalf.[12] The Anishinaabeg have observed significant changes to the quality, colour, and smell of the Lake since the adoption of the LWR project, as well as a steady decline in the wildlife dependent on the Lake.[13] Since the natural flow of the Lake has changed, the Anishinaabeg are unable to rely on their traditional knowledge and teachings about her water patterns to keep them safe when fishing or carrying out other cultural practices.[14]
The statement of claim advocates that Lake Winnipeg justly holds rights under section 7 as she is a living entity with her own spirit amongst the cultural beliefs of the Anishinaabeg.[15] The plaintiffs believe the Lake’s section 7 rights are being infringed by the LWR project as it ultimately increases the risk of the Lake’s death by damaging her ability to heal herself due to the interferences.[16]
Interestingly, this is not the first body of water in Canada to gain legal personhood. Magpie River, or Mutuhekau Shipu, is a river in Quebec sacred to the Innu First Nation.[17] Given that the river was threatened by the development of hydroelectric dams in the region, the Innu Council of Ekuanitshit and the Minganie Regional County Municipality granted the river legal personhood in 2021.[18]
The concept of nature as equal to humans or sentient beings is not a new one. There are several cultures around the world that believe so. This will be an interesting case to follow along and see how Canada decides to respect Indigenous ways of knowing and traditional territories.
ekosi,
The ReconciliACTION Team
Citations
[1] Caitlyn Gowriluk, “Southern Chiefs ask courts to give Lake Winnipeg Charter rights to life, liberty, security”, CBC News (19 September 2024) online: <https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/southern-chiefs-organization-lake-winnipeg-charter-challenge-1.7328001>.
[2] Southern Chiefs’ Organization Inc, “Lake Winnipeg Charter Challenge Statement of Claim”, (19 September 2024) online: <https://scoinc.mb.ca/lake-winnipeg-charter-challenge-statement-of-claim/#:~:text=Decades%20of%20poor%20decision%2Dmaking,rights%20and%20protections%20that%20entails> [Southern Chiefs’ Organization Inc].
[3] Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, s 7, Part I of the Constitution Act, 1982, being Schedule B to the Canada Act 1982 (UK), 1982, c 11.
[4] Supra note 2.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Ibid.
[9] Ibid.
[10] Manitoba Hydro, “Lake Winnipeg Regulation”, (last visited 23 September 2024) online: < https://www.hydro.mb.ca/corporate/operations/water-levels/lake-winnipeg-regulation/#:~:text=The%20Lake%20Winnipeg%20Regulation%20(LWR,generation%20along%20the%20Nelson%20River>.
[11] Supra note 2.
[12] Ibid.
[13] Ibid.
[14] Ibid.
[15] Ibid.
[16] Ibid.
[17] Chloe Berge, “This Canadian river is now legally a person. It’s not the only one.”, National Geographic Society (15 April 2022) online: <https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/these-rivers-are-now-considered-people-what-does-that-mean-for-travelers#:~:text=With%20its%20thunderous%20rapids%20carving,to%20be%20granted%20legal%20personhood>
[18] Ibid.
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