Calls for airport on Manitoba First Nation renewed ahead of 25th anniversary of helicopter crash
Wasagamack First Nation has been calling for an airport for decades, says chief
Wasagamack First Nation is calling on all levels of government to invest in an airport in the northeastern Manitoba community, as people there recall a fatal helicopter crash that killed two beloved elders 25 years ago this month.
Members of Wasagamack First Nation, which is on the western shore of Island Lake and about 500 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg, met with the leader of the Manitoba Liberal Party on Wednesday, ahead of the anniversary of the April 23, 1998, crash.
Wasagamack First Nation Chief Walter Harper's mother, Bernadette Harper, died when the helicopter crashed shortly after taking off. He can still vividly remember getting the call about it.
"I was in the bush at the time when I was called that there had been an accident relating to the chopper crash.… I was devastated," he said.
"It's almost like everything just stopped right there because the last time I seen her … she said, 'just go to the bush and just enjoy yourself, don't worry about anything.'"
That day, elders from Wasagamack boarded the helicopter, on route to nearby St. Theresa Point First Nation, to catch a plane to Red Sucker Lake for a funeral.
Chief Harper's wife, Ellen, and daughter Marie took his mom to the chopper that day. They saw the accident happen.
From the helicopter, "my mom waved at [my daughter], and she waved [back]," said Harper.
Then, "there was a loud noise, and she saw the chopper plunge into the ice."
Harper says after the fatal crash, then NDP MLA Eric Robinson promised an airport would be built in the community. But 25 years later, that still hasn't happened.
"This is why I'm here today is to get that promise back to the First Nations, because we've been promised so many times and that … never [became] a reality," Harper said Wednesday in Winnipeg, where he and others from Wasagamack met at the legislature with Manitoba Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont.
Harper says an airport would also make travel to and from Wasagamack more cost effective, and hopefully bring down the costs of transporting supplies to the community, which currently are brought in on a barge.
"We're talking about the fact that they've been promised an airport in their community for 50 years and there still isn't one," said Lamont.
"This is a community that's being denied an investment that would be transformative.… Really, we have an obligation to this community."
Engineering, feasibility studies needed: province
But since a proposed airport would be on reserve land, there are questions about whether the provincial or federal government would be responsible for the costs.
"I think that the province needs to step up and make sure the feds get on board," said Lamont. "This shouldn't wait any longer. It can happen right now," said Lamont.
During question period at the legislature on Wednesday, Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Doyle Piwniuk responded to Lamont's comments.
"This is a great opportunity for the member of St. Boniface … to ask his prime minister, the [federal] Liberals in the government right now, to come to the table," said Piwniuk.
Piwniuk says he has met with federal Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu and Assembly of First Nations Manitoba Regional Chief Cindy Woodhouse about Wasagamack First Nation.
In a statement to CBC sent later in the day, a provincial spokesperson said engineering consultants for Wasagamack First Nation have given the province an initial estimate on costs for a new airport.
However, "Manitoba would need to conduct its own engineering and feasibility studies as well," and the federal government would need to "commit to a cost-shared and multi-year agreement for this project to be successful," the spokesperson wrote.
Northern airports are the responsibility of Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure when built on provincial Crown land, the spokesperson said.
CBC has also asked Indigenous Services Canada for comment.
Calls for airport renewed after wildfire
Calls for an airport in Wasagamack First Nation resurfaced in 2017, after a wildfire blazed near the community.
"Everybody was just rushing to the dock," said Chief Harper. "The boats were going to the airport. It was very intense."
What remains burned in Harper's mind is a youth from Wasagamack, who got sick on the boat ride to St. Theresa Point that summer.
"The youth was coughing, he was grasping for air, and he was wearing a mask," said Harper.
Months after the fire, the community started working to clear a section of land for an airstrip, he said.
"We're taking it upon ourselves to build an airport. We have already started and we're making progress," said Harper.
"We need the government to push to help us."
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