By Liam Casey

Ontario is set to begin building the road to the Ring of Fire, Ontario Indigenous Affairs Minister Greg Rickford announced Wednesday.

The province is investing nearly $62 million in Geraldton, Ont., to rebuild several segments of existing road that will serve as the start of the eventual road to the mineral-rich region that the government is dubbing the "gateway to the Ring of Fire."

"This five-kilometre stretch from where the TransCanada is based, through Geraldton, cannot handle the kind of commercial, industrial and personal travel that is required to build the corridor that will revitalize the nation, creating more opportunities for First Nations communities," Rickford said at the Toronto Region Board of Trade.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Prime Minister Mark Carney both want to mine the region as part of the country's response to the ongoing trade war with the United States.

The Ring of Fire is some 500 kilometres north of Thunder Bay, Ont., and said to be rich in a multitude of critical and base minerals. 

The political push to mine the region has seen strong resistance from First Nations in the area who are worried they will be left behind by governments again.

The project will connect Highway 11 in the south with Highway 584 in the north and be able to handle sustained truck traffic from mining activities. 

That road project would ultimately connect to three other proposed roads to the Ring of Fire that have been undergoing environmental assessments over the last several years.

Those roads would connect Webequie First Nation and Marten Falls First Nation, which are only accessible by air or winter road, to the provincial highway system, as well as to mining activities.

"This is more than a roadworks project, it's a signal that Geraldton is a gateway to one of Ontario's greatest assets in the face of economic threats from the United States, and that our government is serious about supporting the communities that anchor the north," Rickford said. 

The province will soon send the Geraldton road contract out for tender with the hopes of construction beginning in the spring, if not sooner.

The news has the support of Chief Cornelius Wabasse of Webequie First Nation. It is the proponent for the Webequie Supply road at the north end of the proposed route that will connect the First Nation with mining activities inside the Ring of Fire.

"It's something to look forward to that'll bring opportunities for our community as well, not right away, but it will be something that we can tap into as development progresses in the north and northwest of Ontario," he said.

The goal is to have construction begin on the north end of the route when the environmental and impact assessments are complete.

"It's an opportunity for us and we are taking it," Wabasse said. "It's something that will in time benefit our community in terms of prosperity."

Webequie finished a draft of the environmental and impact assessment in June, which was sent out to 22 other First Nations for a 60-day review period. The work and subsequent draft report were done under the province's Environmental Assessment Act and the federal Impact Assessment Act. The report is thousands of pages long, but concludes that the road would bring prosperity to the nation. 

It may also endanger caribou in the region, the report found.

It's unclear when the final environmental and impact assessments will be done because it depends how many submissions they receive from the review period, said Michael Fox, the project manager of the Webequie Supply Road. It is possible to have the final draft completed by next summer, if not earlier, he said.

"We acknowledge there's impacts, so we're moving the discussion around to mitigation measures whether that's the caribou or the water, the wildlife, fish," Fox said. 

Webequie is in its sixth year on the environmental assessment process, Fox said.

In the spring, Ford's government rammed Bill 5 through the legislature. It's a law that, in part, aims to speed up the building of large projects, including mines.

The new law also gives the government the ability to create so-called "special economic zones" that allow for the suspension of provincial and municipal laws.

Ford has said the Ring of Fire would be declared the first such zone, though that hasn't occurred yet.

The bill sparked anger among the majority of First Nations across the province, who said it ignores their concerns and tramples their treaty rights.

Most took issue with the lack of consultation beforehand. The government has tried to appease First Nations since and has said it will not move forward without extensive consultation.

But that consultation isn't happening and is another example of Ontario trying to divide and conquer First Nations, said Sol Mamakwa, the New Democrat representative for the riding of Kiiwetinoong, where the Ring of Fire is located.

"These types of announcements intentionally undermine First Nations rights under the banner of strengthening the economy against the U.S.," Mamakwa said. 

"First Nations rights holders do not support policies like Bill 5 that blatantly disregard and degrade inherent treaty rights."

Many First Nation residents and leaders have told him they are not against mining or development of the Ring of Fire, but how the governments are going about it, he said, giving deals to some while ignoring others.

Many remote First Nation chiefs have also told Ontario and Ottawa they need help to address numerous long-standing crises that continue to affect them, from a severe dearth of housing to undrinkable water to spates of suicides, especially among young people.

Complicating matters further, several First Nations who inked deals with the province to build the roads to the Ring of Fire have since sued Ontario over Bill 5.

That includes Marten Falls First Nation, which is the lead proponent on one of the three main proposed roads to the Ring of Fire and a partner with Webequie on the third road.

(C) The Canadian Press