A northern First Nation hit by a power outage that led to evacuations and damaged infrastructure is suing Manitoba Hydro, the province and the federal government, alleging negligence after years of warnings the community’s power line was “old and vulnerable.”
Cross Lake Band of Indians, a community of about 8,000 residents approximately 500 kilometres north of Winnipeg, is seeking class-action certification for its statement of claim filed in Manitoba Court of King’s Bench on Tuesday.
The lawsuit stems from a four-day power outage that turned into a “community-wide humanitarian emergency” last winter, Chief David Monias said at a news conference Wednesday.
Roughly 4,000 people were evacuated from the community, also known as Pimicikamak Cree Nation. Pipes froze and burst in homes, pumps and tanks failed, and flooding led to mould contamination, Monias said.
The power was out for about 110 hours, from late on Dec. 28 until the afternoon of Jan. 2, Monias said.
“The harm continued long after the lights came back on.”
About 650 evacuees remain outside of the community and are staying at hotels in Thompson, Brandon and Winnipeg, he said.
“Families left quickly, often with only essential belongings and no clear idea of when they could return,” Monias said. “Some homes needed major repairs, some needed replacements. Some were damaged so badly that demolition was required.”
The winter power outage was not unforeseeable, as Manitoba Hydro failed to act on the community’s warnings as far back as 2018 that its electrical infrastructure was “unreliable, vulnerable and inadequate,” the suit says.
Pimicikamak Cree Nation and its lawyers hold a news conference
in Winnipeg on Wednesday to announce the lawsuit. (Josh Crabb/CBC)
Pimicikamak Coun. Shirley Robinson says Hydro acknowledged her community experienced nine power outages in 2018 as of July of that year, including five outages that month.
The community continued to warn Hydro about power outages it experienced from 2022 to 2025, the lawsuit says.
It was left to depend “on one old and vulnerable power line, even though the danger was known and the community repeatedly asked for backup power and better protection,” Robinson said.
That power line from the Jenpeg generating station crosses muskeg, rivers and difficult terrain, making repairs difficult, she said.
“Hydro chose the closest route from the generating station to [Cross Lake] rather than the most accessible route,” the lawsuit says.
The most accessible route would follow the highway to the community, the lawsuit says, alleging Hydro’s routing choice added to the First Nation’s vulnerability in the event of a power outage.
The First Nation also claims human error delayed the repairs.
WATCH | First Nation sues after winter power outage:
Cross Lake files proposed class-action suit over hydro outage
A power outage in Cross Lake, also known as Pimicikamak Cree Nation, in December 2025 led to evacuations, frozen and burst pipes, flooding and mould. A proposed class-action lawsuit has been filed against Manitoba Hydro, the province and Canada.
“In our lawsuit, we allege that Hydro first found the [line] break, but then pointed crews to the wrong location on a map,” Coun. David Muswaggon said in a statement read aloud at the news conference.
Hydro was unprepared to respond to the power outage, he said.
“Crews were sent to the wrong location, backup power was late, and the restoration itself was mishandled,” Muswaggon said. “This was not only a broken line. The lack of planning and mistakes during the response made a serious emergency even worse.”
None of the allegations have been proven in court.
A loss of electrical service is always a possibility and crews work to restore power as quickly as possible, Manitoba Hydro spokesperson Peter Chura said in a statement to CBC News. The Crown corporation plans to “defend itself vigorously” against the lawsuit, he said.
A provincial spokesperson declined to comment while the lawsuit is before the courts. A representative for Canada’s justice department said it is reviewing the lawsuit to determine the next steps.
Weeks after power was restored, Manitoba Hydro said shotgun pellet damage was found on aerial marker balls attached to the power line, an allegation Cross Lake’s lawsuit calls misleading.
The Crown corporation told the community’s leaders in June that the power went out after aluminum strands in the power line’s conductor failed and melted steel inside a marker ball, the lawsuit alleges.
“Hydro later found another marker ball on the same crossing that appeared to be developing a similar problem,” Robinson said.
While the mechanism explained how the power line failed, Hydro said it “could not explain why the failure occurred” and that the outage “remains a mystery,” the lawsuit says.
The circumstances of the power line failure and Hydro’s inability to provide a “non-negligent explanation” suggests a breach of duty and a failure to meet its obligations to the community, establishing negligence by the Crown corporation, the lawsuit alleges.
Manitoba Hydro CEO Allan Danroth said in June an investigation did not conclude that firearm damage, or any form of vandalism, caused or contributed to the conductor failure inside the marker ball, the lawsuit says.
The community has been unable to obtain the full report outlining the investigation’s findings, Muswaggon said.
The lawsuit accuses Manitoba and Canada of negligence and of breaching their fiduciary duty to Cross Lake.
The suit also accuses the governments of breaching the Charter right of residents to be free of discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, and their right to life, liberty and security.
The First Nation is seeking a range of damages, but the lawsuit doesn’t say how much money it wants. The amount will be in the multiple millions of dollars, lawyer Brian Meronek said at the news conference.
The lawsuit asks for a mandatory injunction that would force Hydro to immediately build and fund a secondary or backup power line to the First Nation.
Untreated or partially treated sewage was discharged into a nearby waterway in the wake of the power outage, the lawsuit claims.
“The full extent of the damage to the [community’s] water, wastewater and sewage infrastructure is not presently known.”
The lawsuit seeks a court declaration stating Canada must immediately build or fund water, water treatment and backup power infrastructure to prevent damage similar to what followed the winter outage.
