A resident of Sandy Bay says he is growing frustrated waiting for the Saskatchewan government to compensate his community over the impact of the Island Falls hydro-electric dam.
The facility was built around 1930 and flooded several trapping and fishing sites in the area.
Cornelius Ballantyne is a long-time trapper and fisher in the community who also sits on the hydro-impact committee.
He says the presence of the structure continues to affect them today:
“It still impacts today I don’t care what anyone says. When the water goes low, especially in the springtime when fish are spawning it destroys the spawning grounds and then they move and next year it’s different again when the water is high.”
He adds several elders have died waiting to be compensated for the dam’s impact.
Meanwhile the President of Saskpower says they have hired an independent party to consult people in the community.
Robert Watson says they are willing to engage the community about its concerns and expect to meet with them in the coming weeks.
“Yes as soon as we can. It’s difficult to schedule because of people’s calendars and schedules, particularly coming into the better months of the year, but we’ll certainly try as soon as possible to get back up to Sandy Bay.”
At the same time Watson notes the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation has filed a lawsuit against Saskpower over the impact the dam had on the community, so that is something they also have to deal with as well.
A meeting had been planned for this week but had to be cancelled due to a death in the community.