Power back on after 5 cold days in remote First Nation in northwestern Ontario

After five days of frigid temperatures, power has been restored in Nibinamik First Nation in northwestern Ontario.

Nibinamik, also known as Summer Beaver, is a remote Oji-Cree community about 500 kilometres north of Thunder Bay. While Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada's website reports its population is just over 100 people, the community's chief says nearly 400 people live there.

The power went out on Friday and wasn't restored until Tuesday evening. Walter Oskineegish, a band councillor for Nibinamik, told CBC News earlier on Tuesday that the community has four main generators. Of these, only one was working — but it was too weak to power the entire community.

He said water pipes had frozen in about 30 per cent of the First Nation’s homes.

Replacement parts had to be ordered from St. Paul, Minn., and first be flown to Winnipeg before they arrived in Nibinamik on Tuesday, he said.

A spokesperson for Indigenous Services Canada provided an emailed statement to CBC News on Tuesday evening, shortly before the power came back on.

“We are aware of the power outages and challenges at Nibinamik First Nation and [are] working alongside [the] community to address them. Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) has been meeting regularly with the First Nation and partners to provide immediate supports such as generators, food, water, and other supplies, as requested by the community,” said spokesperson Eric Head.

“First Nations-led contractors are in the community and repairs are being made to the generators. The community’s nursing station remains open to provide emergency health-care services,” he continued.

“ISC is supporting the nation for community members’ needs and possible evacuations if requested.”

Since the power outages first occurred, Oskineegish says temperatures had reached -30 C, nearing –40 C with the wind chill.

Nibinamik has been under a state of emergency since May 2020 due to ongoing issues with its diesel generating system. Another state of emergency was declared on Friday in response to the latest power outage.

“Frequent power outages being experienced on a daily basis have widespread impacts, creating serious and unmanageable levels of risk for community members,” the emergency declaration from 2020 reads.

Nearly six years later, these challenges have continued, said Oskineegish.

The Matawa First Nations Management tribal council issued a statement on Wednesday, calling on the provincial and federal governments to take urgent action to address the situation in Nibinamik.