The following remarks were given by Robert Spence from Split Lake at the Keeyask Generation Project Public Hearings.
“My soul hurts and is dying. I feel as though I’m mourning everyday while being on the lake and the land. You can’t understand that because you don’t want to go past that door. And you can’t. I like to see you try. To live the life we live as First Nations people being as connected to the water and the land as we are. You killed the land. You killed the water. You killed the fish. You killed the Indian. Ininiw. Do you understand that? I came here with a rage built up inside me for so long that I can’t hold it back anymore.” – Robert Spence, Split Lake
Manitoba Clean Environment Commission (MCEC). Keeyask Generation Project Public Hearings. (November 14, 2013). Transcript of Hearings Held at the Fort Garry Hotel in Winnipeg, MB. Volume 15; page 3358, lines 6-18. Retrieved from the MCEC website: http://www.cecmanitoba.ca/hearings/keeyask-generation-project/doc/Transcripts/Transcripts_-_Keeyask_Winnipeg_Hearing_Nov_14,2013.pdf
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For more information about the impacts of hydroelectric development, specifically in Manitoba, Canada, visit the Wa Ni Ska Tan website. Wa Ni Ska Tan Alliance of Hydro-Impacted Communities is a community-academic research partnership that emerged out of the priorities voiced by hydro-impacted Indigenous communities.
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