‘Need not be perfect:’ Judge OKs $90M deal for flooded Manitoba First Nations
WINNIPEG — A judge has approved a $90-million payout to residents of four Manitoba Indigenous communities that were flooded out almost seven years ago.
The settlement resolves a class-action lawsuit filed by members of the Lake St Martin, Dauphin River, Little Saskatchewan and Pinaymootang First Nations.
The lawsuit alleged that members of the four First Nations were forced to leave their homes in 2011 when the Manitoba government diverted water from the Assiniboine River to reduce the risk of flooding in Winnipeg.
The federal and Manitoba governments had agreed to pay the $90 million to as many as 7,000 potential recipients, but the offer still needed a judge’s approval.