Stop the Leaks, Clean the River, Protect the Lake
NDP repeat history as they botch response to historic sewage catastrophe: Nesbitt
WINNIPEG — The Official Opposition is calling on the NDP government to take immediate action to stop the flow of raw sewage into Manitoba waters, and to ensure sewer infrastructure around Winnipeg is protected from catastrophic failure in the future.
Since February 7, more than 228 million litres of raw, untreated wastewater has spilled into the Red River and Lake Winnipeg, the tenth largest freshwater lake in the world, from two failed sewer lines in the City of Winnipeg. Now weeks into the environmental crisis, Wab Kinew and the NDP continue to stand back and watch as Manitoba experiences one of its worst sewage leaks in recent history.
“Selfies don’t fix sewer pipes or protect communities from polluted waterways,” said Greg Nesbitt, PC Shadow Minister for Environment and Climate Change. “It’s been over two weeks and so far, Wab Kinew and his environment minister have failed to protect our waters and address the worst sewage spill in Winnipeg in a generation.”
Despite the City of Winnipeg asking the NDP for financial support, and despite the premier’s jovial camaraderie and glitzy photo-ops with Justin Trudeau, Wab Kinew has yet to indicate any sort of collaboration with other levels of government to stop the sewer leaks and permanently replace the broken infrastructure. Meanwhile, several federal ministers—Trudeau, along with Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, the emergency preparedness minister, and the infrastructure minister, among others—have all individually visited Manitoba or met with provincial ministers since the spill began.
The NDP have also neglected their duty to inform impacted communities, including downstream First Nations, who say they were not notified about the unfolding catastrophe on two separate occasions.
“Clean, healthy waters in the Hudson Bay watershed are critical for communities that rely on them for drinking water, for commercial fishers and First Nations who rely on them for their livelihoods, for fish and plant life, and for all Manitobans who enjoy our beautiful parks and beaches around the Interlake,” said Interlake-Gimli MLA Derek Johnson. “Wab Kinew must provide a full explanation of his inaction to impacted residents.”
Manitobans are concerned that the NDP are repeating history, as Winnipeg’s largest sewage leak on record happened under the watch of the last NDP government, who also failed to act during their 17-year tenure. After 427 million litres of untreated wastewater spilled from the North End treatment plant in 2002, the Clean Environment Commission told the NDP to work on upgrading the plant. The NDP refused to act and ignored the problem for a decade, which led to Lake Winnipeg being named the most endangered lake in the world in 2013.
“This latest sewage spill impacts not just Winnipeggers but all Manitobans,” said Selkirk MLA Richard Perchotte. “Yet the NDP still haven’t told Manitobans their plan to fix the issue—meaning, just like their predecessors, they have no plan.”
The Official Opposition calls on the NDP government to provide an immediate plan by end of day today, February 23, on what their plan is to fix this environmental crisis as soon as possible, and to prevent future catastrophes from harming Manitobans and Manitoba waters.
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