Hydro project crucial for band’s future: Chief
February 27, 2008
By Duane Hicks
FORT FRANCES—The Namakan River hydro development project being proposed by the Ojibway Power and Energy Group(OPEG) will be vital to Lac La Croix First Nation in the future, Chief Leon Jourdain said during an open house here last Thursday night.
Dozens of people came out for the session at La Place Rendez-Vous, including many residents of Lac La Croix First Nation, whichwill benefit greatly from the project, which proposes “run-of-river” hydroelectric facilities on the Namakan River at High Falls andHay Rapids (and at Myrtle Falls further down the road).
“Our community is no different from any other reservation in Treaty 3 or in Canada,” Chief Jourdain said in a speech at Thursday’s open house. “We are asserting, and will continue to assert, our place in the economic world.
“For far too long our people have been denied our place in the economy,” he charged. “We’ve always watched as our resources disappeared in front of us without any economic gain for our people.
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