floodway channel. The NDP government set aside a portion of the construction budget for aboriginal construction firms. The Red River Floodway Expansion was completed in late 2010 at a final cost of more than $665,000,000 CAD. Since the completion of the expansion, the capacity of the floodway has increased to 4,000 cubic metres (140,000 cubic feet) per second, the estimated level of a 1-in-700 year flood event. (Using the flow rates of Niagara Falls as a standard of comparison, this is more than double its average of 1,833 cubic metres and about a third over its maximum.) The expanded floodway now protects over 140,000 homes, over 8,000 businesses, and will prevent more than $12 billion (CAD) in damage to the provincial economy in the event of a 1-in-700 year flood. The NDP government was criticized by Conservative Brian Pallister, then the Member of Parliament, for requiring workers in construction companies working on the floodway to unionize. Pallister, MP for the Portage—Lisgar constituency and future Manitoba premier, told parliament, "the Manitoba NDP government is planning to proceed with a plan to force every worker on the Red River floodway expansion to unionize, despite the fact that 95% of Manitoba's construction companies are not unionized." The diversion of flood water has been criticized for shifting the impact of flooding from urban Winnipeg to rural communities such as Emerson, Morris, St Adolphe. In 1997 these towns and the surrounding farm buildings and lands ended up with the bulk of the flood water in order to save Winnipeg from flood damage. In 2011, the Manitoba government intentionally diverted water from the Assiniboine River to save Winnipeg which ended up flooding communities around Lake Manitoba - The communities of Pinaymootang, Lake St. Martin, Little Saskatchewan and Dauphin River were severely impacted, as well as the surrounding farmland and cottages. Considerations in the United States In 2009, the North Dakota city of Fargo has been contemplating building their own floodway, or diversion channel, similar to the Red River Floodway. This is in response to the disastrous floods of 1997 (nicknamed "The Flood of the Century"), and in early 2009. See also Portage Diversion (Assiniboine River Floodway) Shellmouth Reservoir Notes External links Manitoba Floodway Authority A Review of the Red River Floodway Operating Rules - Manitoba Conservation Flood control works CBC Video Archives: Duff's Ditch is completed Manitoba Historical Society: “Duff’s Ditch”: The Origins, Construction, and Impact