Ontario Construction News staff writer
The federal government has committed up to $1 billion over three years to match Ontario’s existing pledge for roads into the Ring of Fire, while Neskantaga First Nation says the proposed industrial corridor threatens its traditional territory and is being advanced without its consent.
Prime Minister Mark Carney and Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced the federal funding Oct. 21, more than a month after Neskantaga publicly condemned plans to develop the mineral-rich region and warned investors that it would defend its lands and waters.
The funding would support a road network connecting remote First Nations and critical mineral deposits in the James Bay Lowlands, about 500 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay, to Ontario’s highway system. The region contains deposits of nickel, copper and chromite.
“Working in partnership to protect Canadian workers, Ontario and Canada are fortifying our industrial base and securing the good-paying jobs of the future,” Ford said in a joint statement.
The federal contribution matches Ontario’s commitment of up to $1 billion, first announced in the province’s 2014 budget under then-premier Kathleen Wynne. The announcement is part of an $8.7-billion federal-provincial package supporting Ontario’s steel, automotive and critical minerals industries amid U.S. tariffs.
In a Sept. 14 news release issued during the Canada Investment Summit in Toronto, Neskantaga said the federal government was promoting mineral exploration on Treaty No. 9 lands while Ontario advanced road projects needed to open the region to mining.
“Our homelands are not Canada’s to sell,” the First Nation said.
Neskantaga said the proposed roads were being advanced before the Ring of Fire regional assessment was complete and without its free, prior and informed consent. It argued the projects were not simply community-access roads but components of an industrial corridor intended to enable large-scale mineral extraction.
“The approval of one road does not authorize the next road, the mines that may follow, or the industrial transformation of the entire region,” the First Nation said.
Ontario has advanced several road projects in the region, including the Webequie Supply Road and the Marten Falls Community Access Road. The proposed Northern Road Link would connect the southern road network to the Ring of Fire and cross the Attawapiskat River, according to Neskantaga.
The First Nation said it had not consented to the Northern Road Link and argued that approvals for other roads should not be treated as authorization for development across its territory.
Neskantaga also said the governments’ support for mining infrastructure contrasted with the community’s lack of essential services. At the time of its September statement, the First Nation said it was under a state of emergency and its members remained evacuated in Toronto after its nursing station was rendered unusable.
“The same governments that can mobilize billions of dollars, ministries and regulatory machinery for mining roads have failed to provide Neskantaga with dependable drinking water, adequate housing, and safe health infrastructure,” the statement said.
Neskantaga warned that short-term funding offers to First Nations would not address long-term needs, including health care, overcrowded housing, mental health services and the effects of climate change on communities and the land.
“The money is finite. The loss of land and water is permanent,” it said.
The First Nation said it respected neighbouring communities’ right to seek roads and infrastructure but maintained that their support for projects could not replace its own consent.
Webequie and Marten Falls First Nations have supported road projects intended to improve access to their communities and facilitate economic development. Ontario has described the Marten Falls road as a key link in a larger 514-kilometre corridor to the Ring of Fire.
The federal and provincial governments have pledged to co-ordinate permitting and approvals for major projects and identify priority Ring of Fire developments eligible for additional funding, tax credits and cost-sharing arrangements.
The federal funding announcement did not specify how the money would be allocated among individual road projects or when payments would begin. Outstanding permits and disputes over Indigenous consent remain issues for development in the region.
Neskantaga said it would use political, legal and land-based means to defend its territory and Treaty No. 9 rights.
