Northern Manitoba MP Niki Ashton says Manitoba Hydro is bringing 10 new cooks into the Keeyask generating station work camp and that they should reassess that plan in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Workers at the site and First Nations partners in the area near Gillam were informed April 19 that the cooks would be arriving, despite the Crown corporation having said that employees would not be coming and going from the site, where about 700 people voluntarily remained behind, as of March 21.
“This is not in line with Manitoba Hydro's clear commitment to ensure safety at their site by prohibiting new staff to enter,” said Ashton in an April 20 letter to Manitoba’s chief provincial public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin. “This recent announcement has created major concerns among workers in the camp and First Nations who were willing to recognize Hydro's previous efforts.”
Chief Doreen Spence of Tataskeweyak Cree Nation at Split Lake, one of four First Nations in the area of the under-construction generating station, told the Winnipeg Free Press that she didn’t like the idea of Manitoba Hydro dictating to them about what they consider safe.
The Free Press also reported that Keeyask reopened its gym April 11 and its dining room on April 14, with seating restrictions in place. The bar will be reopened soon if resources allow, according to a daily safety notice sent to employees, some of whom, along with contractors, contacted the Free Press with their concerns last weekend.
The new cooks, who work for Sodexo, will not be quarantined, Hydro reportedly informed workers, because they are needed to replace cafeteria staff who have left. They will have their temperatures taken and fill out health surveys at the start of their shifts for two weeks after their arrival.
Manitoba Hydro told the Free Press that the Northern Regional Health Authority approved of the company’s protocols and that all Manitoba Health guidelines were being followed to protect workers and contractors as well as residents of nearby communities.
“Communities across our region are aware of the heightened risk of a COVID-19 spread through work camps and back into communities,” Ashton said in her letter the chief public health officer. “We are hearing news of infections in camps and mines in northern regions of the country. Our region cannot afford one infection and that is why calls for temporary shutdowns must be respected. The travel restriction [into Northern Manitoba, which took effect April 17] will do nothing to prevent the virus spreading in work camps and mines across our region that require contractors to continue operations. I therefore would ask your teams to reassess the current exemptions especially in light of this current situation and respect the calls for temporary shutdowns, including at Keeyask.”
