Good day friends,

Mr. Kelly Baker is a 71-year-old, lifelong fisherman from South Indian Lake, Manitoba. He has a fish camp located just below the Miss Falls dam, (a 2-minute boat ride south of the Missi Falls dam or a 5-minute quad ride).

Now, Mr. Baker has fished in this area since the 1970s and before that, he fished at a nearby location since he was about 12 years old with his late father, Murdo Clee. Due to extreme flooding and excessively high-water levels, Mr. Baker has had to relocate and rebuild his camp many times. He has had to rebuild his cabins after they have been destroyed by Manitoba Hydro.

Most recently, Mr. Baker relocated his fish camp to an area that was on a big hill and at an elevation 20 to 30 feet higher than his previous cabin, to be proactive. This last camp was built approximately 7 years ago.  This past July, Mr. Baker went out to his camp to fish and this was what he encountered:

• He could only see the top of the roof of his cabin because it was completely immersed in water
• He and his family could not even park their boats
• The situation was extremely treacherous
• All of his gear, nets, trapping equipment, a couple of boats, and motors were all destroyed, along with his cabin and its entire contents were destroyed
• He could only see the very tips of trees that once surrounded his cabin and his land

How can we help?

Mr. Baker would like to hold Manitoba Hydro accountable for their actions, and he does not want his fish camp to be flooded again. Also, Mr. Baker wants to safely resume fishing as soon as possible, he is very active and healthy; by no means ready to retire. Moreover, he has a family to support.

Please write to your local MP on behalf of Mr. Baker and tell them what you want done to help this lifelong fisherman.

Ekosani,

Angela Levasseur, on behalf of Kelly Baker