| Wuskwatim Agreement Announced - June Vote | 11 May 06 |
 Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation (NCN) and Manitoba Hydro announced their completed negotiations for the Wuskwatim Project Development Agreement (PDA) late march 2006. Negotiations for the Wuskwatim PDA began in 1997 and are based on the Northern Flood Agreement (NFA) for NCN and the associated NCN NFA implementation agreement of 1996.The PDA is subject to a June 14th, ratification vote by NCN members who live both on and off the reserve. The ratification vote requires a double majority. That is a majority (at least 51%) of eligible NCN members must vote and a majority (at least 51%) of those voting must approve the PDA. Manitoba Hydro, NCN, and the Manitoba government have said that community ratification is needed or the Wuskwatim generation station will not be built. This agreement and the ratification vote do not include the three segments of transmission lines that are part of the whole project. The PDA (1,500 pages) is not available on the NCN or Manitoba Hydro web sites, and has also not otherwise been made available electronically (e.g. on CD-ROM). This is hindering efforts to conduct independent legal or economic reviews. The provincial government would have to approve certain transactions described in the PDA. As well, the provincial and federal governments have yet to make their decisions about whether to issue environmental licenses, various permits, and water licenses. The PDA and more than a dozen related agreements define and govern ownership, financing, construction, operation, management and other environmental aspects of the Wuskwatim Generation Project. View the April 28, 2006 Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation (NCN) press release View the March 27, 2006 Transcript of PDA announcement speeches (DOC) View three March 2006 NCN press releases: news release, consultation, facts View the March 30, 2006 Manitoba Hydro press release View NCN information about the Wuskwatim Project Development Agreement View Wuskwatim Projects information on Manitoba Wildlands View Wuskwatim environmental review and hearings documents Visit Manitoba Hydro's web site for the Wuskwatim Projects Sources: Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation, Manitoba Hydro |
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