“This Didn’t Have to Happen. And It Must Not Happen Again.”

Press Release

January 7, 2026

Treaty Five Territory, Pimicikamak Cree Nation (Cross Lake), MB (January 7, 2026) – Grand Chief Kyra Wilson was on the ground Wednesday in Pimicikamak Cree Nation alongside Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse, Manitoba Regional Chief Willie Moore, Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak (MKO) Regional Chief Garrison Settee, Premier Wab Kinew, Rebecca Chartrand, Minister of Northern and Arctic Affairs and Minister responsible for the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency, Members of Parliament Terry Duguid (Winnipeg South) and Leah Gazan (Winnipeg Centre), as well as federal and provincial officials, as the community continues to confront the aftermath of a devastating power outage that laid bare long-standing failures in northern infrastructure.

The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) recognizes the tireless leadership of Pimicikamak Cree Nation Chief David Monias and Council, volunteers, emergency staff, and local responders who worked around the clock, in extreme cold and dangerous conditions, to protect families, coordinate evacuations, and support Elders.

“This community has been carrying an impossible load,” said Grand Chief Kyra Wilson. “In the cold and the dark, local leadership stepped up and did everything they could to keep people safe. That work deserves recognition and respect.”

Families are now facing a long and difficult recovery. Prolonged outages led to frozen and burst pipes, damaged homes, compromised water and sewage systems, displacement, and deep emotional trauma.

“This community will not recover in days or weeks,” Wilson said. “It will take months to rebuild what was damaged. What happened here cannot be dismissed as an isolated incident.”

During meetings with community leadership, Grand Chief Wilson was briefed on urgent failures that must be addressed immediately, including aging infrastructure, delays in federal emergency transfers, and the need for rapid approval of recovery funding. Leadership stressed the necessity of immediate home assessments, sustained support for evacuees, and a clear, enforced plan to return families home safely. They also underscored that long-overdue upgrades to water, sewage, and lagoon systems, along with immediate infrastructure repair, public-safety protections, and mental-health supports are not optional, but essential obligations that must be acted on without delay.

As governments engage with Pimicikamak Cree Nation on recovery planning, the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs emphasized that decisions must be guided by the needs identified by the community itself. All stakeholders, including Manitoba, Canada, and Manitoba Hydro, are expected to listen to community leadership and respond with the urgency the situation demands.

First Nations leadership in the North, including the Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak (MKO), has publicly supported the call for additional federal assistance, including the potential deployment of the Canadian Armed Forces to support emergency response, logistics, and recovery in remote northern communities.

With that support clearly expressed, the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs underscored that the next step now rests with the federal government. As governments engage in recovery efforts, AMC further emphasized that action must be matched with accountability, particularly given Manitoba Hydro’s obligations under the Northern Flood Agreement.

“The Northern Flood Agreement exists because northern First Nations were promised protection when their lands and lives were fundamentally altered,” Wilson said. “What we saw here raises serious questions about whether those responsibilities are being met.”

While AMC will continue to work with partners to support recovery, Wilson made clear that accountability will remain central.

“We will stand with Pimicikamak through recovery,” she said. “But we will also push, firmly, to ensure obligations are upheld. Reliable power in the North is not optional, especially in winter.”

The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs emphasized that this outage reflects a broader pattern of risk faced by northern First Nations risks intensified by climate extremes and too often addressed only after harm has already occurred.

“This will take time,” Wilson said. “And we will not look away.”

For more information, please contact:
Communications Team
Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs
Email:  media@manitobachiefs.com

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