A new residents’ association hopes to have input into future decision-making around the Algoma Central Rail passenger line that runs between Sault Ste. Marie and Hearst.
On April 12, residents from roughly 20 remote communities located along the line gathered to form the Mask-Wa Residents Association. (Mask-Wa is Cree for bear.)
In a release, the association said this is the first time residents from so many remote communities have formed a single association. Its chair, Len Piccolo, will have representation on the ACR Passenger Train Stakeholders Working Group, which is lobbying to retain passenger service along the line.
Jason Gauthier, chief of the Missanabie Cree First Nation, has taken over as chair of the working group. Tom Dodds, CEO of the Sault Ste. Marie Economic Development Corp. served in that role over the last two years.
“The Algoma passenger train is necessary for the First Nations to safely and reliably access the remote and wilderness areas of their traditional territories, including hunting and trapping grounds, culturally significant areas and socio-economic opportunities,” the MRA said in a release.
“First Nations in Algoma are also developing socio-economic opportunities such as ecotourism businesses, forest management plans, and other resource-based undertakings.”
In 2014, the Sault-to-Hearst passenger line was cancelled by CN, which owns the line, after the federal government announced it would not continue a subsidy to run it.
The federal government then offered an additional year of funding to keep the line operational, but any attempts since then to find a full-time operator have been unsuccessful.
