Public resistance to the Manitoba government’s methods of remediating decades-old mine waste in Sherridon illustrates a growing phenomenon.
That phenomenon: People often don’t trust their elected officials, and those in the employ of those officials, to do the right thing.
At dispute in Sherridon is whether water from Camp Lake, a water body into which mine waste was relocated, should be drained into Kississing Lake, seen as the crown jewel of the town.
Provincial officials have said there’s no problem and that the Camp Lake water, despite its orange appearance, is safe to release.
Town officials challenge that conclusion, going so far as to order their own tests of Camp Lake water even though the province had already commissioned tests.
Some cite paranoia as the trend at play in the tiny former mining town carved out of the wilderness 60 km northeast of Flin Flon.
Others believe Sherridonites are rightly cautious given the propensity of governments to royally screw things up or fudge the truth.
In the Flin Flon region alone, there is a long list of instances of governments misleading the public.
When Flin Flon’s Hemlock apartment complex for low-income families closed in 2013, the victim of structural concerns, the province promised it would replace those lost suites.
But in 2014, the province suddenly became non-committal on that pledge. So much for the NDP philosophy of looking out for the downtrodden… but, boy, can they sure blast rock along Highway 10!
In fairness, governments don’t always bamboozle the public intentionally. Many Flin Flonners were dismayed, for instance, by the $15.2-million price tag for our water treatment plant – an amount far above initial estimates.
The City of Flin Flon did not deliberately put forth a low-ball estimate. Why would it? It simply went with the best information available from whoever estimates expenses, and the information turned out to be wrong.
Examples of deceit by the federal government, intentional or not, are abundant. Remember Stephen Harper promising an elected Senate only to later say that wasn’t feasible?
Against this backdrop of deception, is it any wonder the people of Sherridon question a government that says it’s perfectly okay to release tomato-soup-like water into the gorgeous lake surrounding their town?
Some observers may be tempted to note that Sherridonites are not experts on water quality and should leave this matter up to the experts within government.
Again, consider all of the instances where trusting government experts has proven to be a fool’s game.
We can’t be so unreasonable so as to think the people in charge are always lying us to. Even if that were true, who would want to live like that?
If Sherridon is not convinced the government has made a strong case to release Camp Lake water into Kississing Lake, then the community has every right to ask more questions, demand more answers and postpone major decisions.
If, at the end of the day, Sherridon is unable to make a compelling case against the release of the water, then government expertise should probably prevail.
But Sherridon deserves the chance to investigate the situation independent of a government many of its residents clearly distrust.
Local Angle runs Fridays.
