The provincial government is rolling out $61.8 million to beef up a main thoroughfare in the town of Geraldton, which is being pronounced as the “first segment” toward building a road network into the Ring of Fire.
Construction crews will be mobilized this fall to begin rehabilitating and upgrading a five-kilometre stretch between the Trans-Canada Highway (Highway 11) and Highway 584.
It may look like baby steps, but Indigenous Affairs and First Nations Economic Reconciliation Minister Greg Rickford calls it “the first major physical step in the development” of the proposed north-south route, often dubbed by Rickford as the “Corridor to Prosperity.”
“But it’s time to get started,” said Rickford, in clapping his hands for emphasis.
He was speaking at the Building Together: Indigenous Business and the Infrastructure Opportunity Conference in Toronto, Sept. 10. The event was livestreamed.
Rickford called the investment a “watershed moment” in the Ford government’s history regarding the Ring of Fire
Ironically, this construction project begins at a highway intersection that had to be moved and rebuilt to accommodate Equinox's Greenstone open-pit gold mine.
Rickford said the Highway 584 road needs to be strengthened to handle the high volume of commercial heavy truck movement and other vehicle traffic that will come with the anticipated surge of material and supplies up a proposed road of several hundred kilometres into the mineral-rich James Bay region.
Geraldton is the largest community in the rural municipality of Greenstone in northwestern Ontario.
Over the years, Greenstone has been portrayed as the transportation jumping off point to the Ring of Fire.
The municipality has been a frequent landing spot by Premier Doug Ford to make funding announcements for road improvements, training dollars and other infrastructure, such as the Indigenous-owned Migizi Plaza Rest Stop. It’s part of his government’s agenda to push the pace of development in the Ring of Fire.
As the single biggest infrastructure investment in Greenstone’s history, Rickford said, the funding represents an investment in “legacy” infrastructure that will connect First Nation communities to the provincial highway system for the first time and will lead to better economic, health-care and social outcomes for Indigenous people.
In an impromptu discussion panel, Webequie Chief Cornelius Wabasse, leader of the community closest to the Ring of Fire, said the area’s mining potential fits with the community’s aspirations and vision to flourish by providing opportunity for members while also safeguarding the environment.
Wabasse, who became chief in 2009, in the midst of the staking rush, said he heeds the advice of his community’s elders to work with industry and government to “make things happens for our community.”
However, this first length of Ring of Fire road construction may be the easiest stretch to come. The ground gets more contentious as construction moves further north.
Not at the podium was Martin Falls Chief Bruce Achneepineskum, a key Ford government ally and road proponent.
In a move that could fracture the government’s First Nation partnership arrangement, Marten Falls surprised many by taking a legal stand last month in seeking an injunction on all development activity until a process is put in place for better “nation-to-nation” dialogue.
Among his concerns, Achneepineskum is dismayed at the lack of upfront government infrastructure in his community, ahead of mine development, and is seeking $300 million in compensation surrounding some historical grievances.
Another Ring of Fire road proponent, not represented at the event, is Aroland First Nation and Chief Sonny Gagnon.
The community is situated near the southern terminus of the north-south road where a vital transhipment point of Ring of Fire-mined ore would be handled. But Aroland is one of nine communities launching a Charter challenge to overturn the provincial and federal Bill 5s.
A number of senior Indigenous leaders in Ontario and across Canada remain defiant in demanding the removal of Ontario’s controversial Bill 5 legislation and Ottawa’s complementary Bill C-5, aimed at fast-tracking the development of strategic infrastructure projects and mineral plays in Canada.
In his remarks, Rickford said the province is “in the business” of working with the communities “most proximal” to the proposed north-south road.
Rickford stressed the importance of First Nation partnerships, as building a mine in isolation of Indigenous participation “is a disaster.”
“If we don’t get that right, mining cannot come after that,” he said.
With last spring’s rollout of $3 million in provincial capacity-building funding for First Nations, Rickford said he’d like to see development relationships move beyond impact benefit agreements and into the creation of sovereign wealth funds that ensure First Nation communities and businesses are full partners.
