Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 20, 2015, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A5 winnipegfreepress. com MANITOBA WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, TUESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2015 A 5 BIRCHWOOD HONDA WEST .... - ........ Portage Avenue ...... - ...... - ........ birchwoodhondawest. ca BIRCHWOOD HONDA ON REGENT ........ Regent Avenue West WEST ...... - ...... - ........ hondaonregent. ca O F F I C I A L V E H I C L E O F T H E N H L � #/� Limited time lease offers from Honda Canada Finance Inc. ( HCFI), OAC. Weekly lease offers apply to a new 2015 CR- V LX 2WD, model RM3H3FES for a 60- month period, for a total of 260 payments of $ 70/ leased at 1.99% APR. 120,000 kilometre allowance ( 12 cents/ km excess charge applies). Consumers may pre- purchase up to a maximum of 16,000 extra km/ year at $ 0.08/ km at the time of entering into the lease agreement. Total lease obligation is $ 18,200. 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Joining Selinger on the trip are Eric Robinson, the minister responsible for Manitoba Hydro, and Hydro president and CEO Scott Thomson. The trip was prompted by Pimicikamak residents' Oct. 16 seizure of the grounds around the Jenpeg Generating Station, locking out all but a skeleton staff to keep the dam running. An agreement struck weeks later to end the occupation called on Selinger to travel to Cross Lake to deliver a letter of apology for the harms caused by hydro power. But the trip to Cross Lake and other communities under the Northern Flood Agreement, including Split Lake, Nelson House, York Factory and Norway House, comes before Friday's deadline for leadership delegate application forms to be sent to the NDP head office for approval. Under the leadership contest rules, all of the Northern Flood Agreement communities must vote for delegates via mail- in ballots rather than during the in- person meetings other constituencies receive. If members don't apply to be a delegate by Jan. 23, they can't be on the mail- in ballot. Each of the five communities falls under The Pas constituency, which has an estimated 147 delegate spots up for grabs among Selinger and leadership hopefuls Theresa Oswald and Steve Ashton. The party isn't expected to release the official number of delegate spots until Feb. 2. Ashton and Oswald didn't directly criticize the premier for the trip's timing, but insiders in both camps said it appears the premier is using his position to capture delegate support. The tour has been deemed government business, meant to be separate from Selinger's campaign to keep his job. Ashton is campaigning in Cross Lake and Norway House and other northern communities this week and Oswald heads north today for a swing through Cross Lake, Norway House, The Pas, Swan River and Dauphin. " This is a critical week in the campaign as it is the last opportunity for members to sign up to be delegates," Ashton said in a statement. " I welcome anyone who wants to campaign in northern Manitoba, as it is important that candidates campaign throughout the province." Spokesmen for Ashton and Oswald said the candidates are footing the bill for their northern tours. " Theresa is heading to northern Manitoba tomorrow to meet with longtime and new NDP members along with First Nation leaders," a spokesman said. " She is humbled by the dozens of members who made donations to the campaign to cover the full costs for the trip." Paul McKie, a spokesman for Selinger, said the premier's taxpayer- supported trip is focused purely on righting hydro development's past wrongs. " This is absolutely a government function," McKie said. " This is the work of the premier." McKie said the trip had been in the works for weeks and only got the green light after it was vetted by government legal experts who said it didn't contravene the party's leadership campaign rules or campaign- financing laws. The Election Finances Act forbids the use of taxpayer dollars for any party or leadership purposes. The party's leadership rules state publicly elected officials are prohibited from using the services and privileges provided to them to promote their candidacy. The rules say candidates who are public officials must pay back any costs related to any public government event, like travel, staffing and meals, if at the same time they are promoting themselves as an election or leadership candidate. Last month, the governing body of the NDP defeated a resolution calling on Selinger to step down to compete in the leadership campaign. Oswald resigned her cabinet post as jobs and the economy minister a month earlier and Ashton resigned as infrastructure and transportation minister when he entered the race. Selinger has said he would remain as premier during the campaign and be able to separate his duties as premier and leadership candidate to avoid any appearance of conflict. bruce. owen@ freepress. mb. ca What's at stake this week THERE are an estimated 147 delegate spots in The Pas constituency up for grabs as a result of recent party membership sales. Leadership hopeful Steve Ashton is already on the ground in the north, shoring up support for his candidacy, and contender Theresa Oswald leaves today to visit five communities over the next three days in her bid to become premier. Premier Greg Selinger flies up today to visit a number of the same northern communities, but on government business to apologize to affected First Nations for the damage caused by Hydro development over the past 40 years. Party members in The Pas and four other northern constituencies will select their delegates for the March 8 leadership vote by mail- in ballot. Party rules allow mail- in ballots in northern and rural constituencies where members are required to travel 100 kilometres or more to a delegate- selection meeting. For each constituency using a mailin ballot, any party member who wishes to stand as a delegate must notify the party's provincial secretary in writing by Jan. 23. Once the ballots for delegate selection have been approved by the provincial secretary, no changes or appeals to the ballots will be allowed. The ballots will be mailed Jan. 26 to Jan. 30 and must be post- marked for return no later than Feb. 23. Timing of apology trip questioned NDP leadership hopefuls go north as delegate deadline draws near MANITOBA courts have cleared the path for Bipole III to cross an aboriginal treaty land claim. The ruling came down last week against legal objections from a First Nation with a massive claim - some 417,000 hectares of Crown land the transmission line cuts through. Sapotaweyak Cree Nation Chief Nelson Genaille, who filed the case on behalf of the community located south of Lake Winnipegosis, said Monday the decision was a bitter disappointment. " I was hoping and I was expecting that justice would be done. When I got the ruling I was as mad as hell," Genaille said. The legal battle came to a head over the issue of an injunction to stop Bipole III. " We're pleased that the motion for an injunction was dismissed," Manitoba Hydro spokesman Scott Powell said. The same land is also claimed by Manitoba M�tis. M�tis crews are the loggers under contract with Hydro who are cutting the line through the bush, an apparent clash of aboriginal values that's not lost on either the First Nation or the M�tis. " It's clearly, without question, the M�tis breadbasket and our right to the land is no less than the First Nation. We have a business relationship with Hydro right now," said David Chartrand, president of the Manitoba Metis Federation. A crew of 50, predominantly M�tis, is cutting a path through the 200- kilometre stretch of Crown land. Powell confirmed the MMF, through an economic development corporation, won the contract to do the cutting. M�tis N4 Construction Inc. is a forprofit share capital corporation wholly owned by the MMF. Late last year, the tiny rural community of Sapotaweyak waded in, filing a motion for an injunction against both Hydro and the province. For Genaille, the issue isn't who does the cutting - it's that plant and animal habitats will be destroyed and the Cree will lose both. " It's a divide and conquer process but regardless of that, once the damage to the land is done, it's done," Genaille said. " Hydro has used that to their advantage. They say the M�tis are benefiting from it." MMF president David Chartrand said Sapotaweyak rights to the land don't need to clash with M�tis rights. " I've been asking for 10 years, asking the chiefs and the grand chiefs to sit down with us. ( Now) the courts are telling us very clearly our rights are no less than theirs. There will be a time and it's coming around the corner... when our governments get together. We're both aboriginal. The M�tis and First Nations need to start talking; this is the future," Chartrand said. The ruling, delivered in writing Jan. 14, also means the First Nation will likely see settlement of its land claims put on hold. " My client is still considering their position on the matter, whether it's an appeal or pursuing relief in a statement of claim," Sapotaweyak lawyer Harley Schachter said Monday. Queen Bench Justice Donald Bryk said in the ruling he would file written reasons for his decision at a later date. For Manitoba Hydro, the decision means the crews will now continue work in an area they call N- 4. The two current work locations are south of The Pas and north of Swan River. The M�tis signed a $ 20- million deal to fund ongoing talks between the MMF and Hydro over impacts related to Bipole III and other developments from Keeyask to Conawapa, plus the logging contract. alexandra. paul@ freepress. mb. ca By Bruce Owen Court rules in Hydro's favour First Nation considers next move in battle By Alexandra Paul Greg Selinger: Apology trip deemed government business. TREVOR HAGAN / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Pimicikamak residents demonstrate outside Winnipeg's Manitoba Hydro building after a Jenpeg dam standoff in October. OPINION: HYDRO LACKS AUTHORITY TO BUILD BIPOLE / A7 A_ 05_ Jan- 20- 15_ FP_ 01. indd A5 1/ 19/ 15 10: 44: 59 PM ;