The Manitoba provincial government agreed to a Cdn $19 million compensation package for the Fox Lake Cree Nation for damages to traditional hunting grounds caused by a series of hydroelectric dams. Without consulting the tribe, Manitoba Hydro in 1974 constructed the Kettle Dam on the Nelson River, and then built the Longspruce and Limestone dams in 1979 and 1990. This compensation clears a major obstacle out of the way for the Conawapa project, a proposed hydroelectric dam that would increase Manitoba's power-generation capacity by 25 percent. The Canadian government and Manitoba Hydro have pledged to include the Fox Lake Cree Nation, and Chief Robert Wavey is pushing for his band to particapate in the dam's construction in order to receive some of the economic and employment benefits.
