As efforts continue to obtain unanimous indigenous consent for two major access roads into Northern Ontario’s Ring of Fire mining belt, at least one First Nation is sounding reassured that its interests are being met.
Aroland First Nation Chief Dorothy Towedo said Wednesday the province has agreed to work with the band and fulfil its goal of becoming the Ring of Fire’s “gateway.”
“Ontario is now clear,” Towedo said in a news release. “It is committed to working with Aroland and other First Nations for planning potential mining and related infrastructure developments.”
She added: “This commitment is a necessary part of obtaining consent.”
Towedo said her community, located adjacent to an existing provincial highway near Nakina, felt assured after receiving a supportive letter from Northern Development and Mines Minister Michael Gravelle.
Towedo said Gravelle encouraged Aroland to forge ahead with business development and transportation corridor studies with a view for the band to become “a regional hub.”
Gravelle’s office didn’t address the letter Wednesday, but said it is “committed to working with Matawa-member First Nations to move forward on priorities identified in the Regional Framework Agreement.”
“The government is also working bilaterally with communities who are ready to advance discussions on multi-purpose, all-season roads,” a spokesman added.
Aroland says while it is mindful of potential environmental impacts on its traditional territory, it “is also strongly in favour of sustainable resource development and improving regional infrastructure for community well-being.”
Last month, Premier Kathleen Wynne got into hot water for announcing preliminary plans for east-west and north-south roads in the Ring of Fire without including all nine First Nations located in the mining belt’s orbit.
Located about 550 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay, the Ring of Fire contains large deposits of chromite, a key ingredient in the production of stainless steel, as well as other major metals like copper, gold and nickel. The province has pegged the mineral value at $60 billion.
In her announcement last month in Thunder Bay, Wynne suggested construction on the roads could begin sometime in 2019, “pending all necessary approvals.”
The roads would be funded out of a $1-billion allocation the province has earlier set aside for Ring of Fire infrastructure.
Marten Falls, Nibinamik and Webequie First Nations were included in the announcement, but some that weren’t expressed dismay that Wynne had acted “prematurely” before every community was on board.
Earlier this year, Wynne released a tough-sounding letter saying that negotiations between the province and affected First Nations regarding Ring of Fire infrastructure had been dragging on for too long without any agreements being reached.
Ontario remains the only province on the Canadian Shield without an all-weather road into its far north.
Toronto-based Noront Resources, which is slated to build the first nickel mine in the Ring of Fire, has since last year been urging the province to announce a road so the company can assure its investors the project is viable.
Noront has favoured an east-west route, which would link the Ring of Fire to Pickle Lake.