The Peterborough Examiner

Road agreements in place

Government, First Nations reach deal bringing developmen­t one step closer

- ALLISON JONES THE CANADIAN PRESS

THUNDER BAY, Ont. — Developmen­t of the chromite-rich Ring of Fire region in northern Ontario is one step closer after the premier announced Monday that agreements with First Nations are in place to start road constructi­on.

The provincial government has been talking with the chiefs of the Matawa First Nations for years, since it pledged $1 billion in 2014 to fund infrastruc­ture into the area about 500 km northeast of Thunder Bay, Ont.

The region holds one of the world’s richest deposits of chromite — used to make stainless steel — as well as nickel, copper and platinum, valued at anywhere from $30 billion to $60 billion.

Premier Kathleen Wynne’s announceme­nt in Thunder Bay comes three months after she told nine First Nations in the region she wanted to see progress in weeks, not months, on discussion­s about the roads or she would move to bilateral talks with individual communitie­s.

Wynne announced that Ontario will now work with three of those nine First Nations — Webequie, Marten Falls and Nibinamik — to build year-round road access into a proposed mining developmen­t site being pursued by Noront Resources Ltd.

An east-west road connecting the Webequie and Nibinamik communitie­s to the provincial highway network will be planned and built, providing all-season access to the communitie­s and the Ring of Fire, as well as a road connecting Marten Falls First Nation to the existing provincial highway network.

“We’re moving forward with our plan to unlock one of the biggest mineral developmen­t opportunit­ies in almost a century,” Wynne said.

“We know that the Ring of Fire will be a game changer for communitie­s in the region and quite frankly for the whole province.”

The Marten Falls and Webequie chiefs, on hand for the announceme­nt, said they hoped the opportunit­ies that come with Ring of Fire developmen­t will benefit their residents, who face challenges such as poor housing conditions.

“We have a lot of issues in our communitie­s that we need to address and I think by moving forward with developmen­ts in our area that’s how we can address some of the issues that we face on a daily basis,” said Webequie First Nation Chief Cornelius Wabasse.

Marten Falls First Nation’s chief said situations such as overcrowde­d housing, youth unemployme­nt and an ongoing boil-water advisory need to be remedied.

“Over 10 years on bottled water — that’s incredible,” Chief Bruce Achneepine­skum said. “No other community in Canada would stand for that ... We need to change those things. We need to create employment for our members. We need to create the right training opportunit­ies, culturally appropriat­e opportunit­ies for our members in our communitie­s also.”

Wynne said she is still committed to working with the rest of the nine Matawa First Nations, with whom Ontario signed a regional framework agreement in 2014 to work together on regional long-term environmen­tal monitoring, resource revenue sharing, economic supports, and infrastruc­ture.

“Among a group of communitie­s there were some that were at a different point of readiness to move forward and we said, ‘Then let’s go,’ ” Wynne said. “Let’s get moving and make those investment­s.”

The Ontario government has so far unsuccessf­ully pressed the federal government to match its planned $1-billion investment.

Noront Resources, which signed a US$20-million deal to buy claims in the region that were owned indirectly by Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. after it pulled out in 2013, said it looks forward to working closely with the province and First Nations communitie­s on road constructi­on and mine developmen­t.

“Today’s announceme­nt is a major step forward for Noront as we prepare to develop our nickel and chromite deposits in the Ring of Fire,” president and CEO Alan Coutts said in a statement.

The communitie­s are to start environmen­tal assessment­s by January with constructi­on is set to begin in 2019.

 ?? STAN BEHAL/TORONTO SUN FILES ?? Premier Kathleen Wynne announced the government has made agreements with First Nations on building roads linking the Ring of Fire with the provincial highway system.
STAN BEHAL/TORONTO SUN FILES Premier Kathleen Wynne announced the government has made agreements with First Nations on building roads linking the Ring of Fire with the provincial highway system.

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