Pimicikamak Cree Nation Chief David Monias has asked Prime Minister Mark Carney to deploy the Canadian Armed Forces to assist with the ongoing power outage crisis in Cross Lake.
In a letter on New Year’s Eve, Wednesday, Monias told Carney that the nation was “experiencing a rapidly escalating public health and safety crisis” as hundreds of homes remained without power or heat.
“Elders, infants, children and medically vulnerable citizens are at immediate risk,” Monias wrote.
He said that evacuations were underway, and the hotels were at capacity in the area.
“Despite the involvement of multiple agencies, including Indigenous Services Canada and the Canadian Red Cross, the scale and severity of this crisis far exceed local and regional capacity,” Monias wrote requesting immediate military assistance.
Pimicikamak Cree Nation declared a state of emergency on Monday following the widespread outage. The community – about 1,300 customers – has been without power since late Sunday night when a supply line crossing the Nelson River went down.
Manitoba Hydro had said power would be restored by Wednesday 6 p.m. and later revised its estimate to Thursday 6 p.m.
According to Monias, once power is restored, there are flooding risks due to pipe bursts and more families might be displaced.
