GINOOGAMING FIRST NATION — Road improvements have been a long time coming for a remote First Nation.
Dougall Media caught up with Ginnoogaming First Nation’s Chief Sheri Taylor on Aug. 6 to discuss the recently announced major infrastructure project being undertaken in her community.
The project – which is mainly focused on a major overhaul of a seven-kilometre stretch of one of the main roads into Ginoogaming – broke ground on July 30.
Taylor said it’s a project community leaders have had in mind since she was first involved with council back in 2019.
“This project just kind of sat there because we weren’t ready for it,” she said.
Ontario’s ministry of agriculture, food, and rural affairs is funding the project, but as Taylor noted, the structure of the program offered by the ministry presented its own challenges to Ginoogaming when this project was first considered.
“You have to front the money; they’re not going to pay it for you – you have to front it yourself.
"At that time, we didn’t have any extra cash flow to fund this project so, in my tenure as leader, I picked up this project and put it in a plan as something we should be looking at.
“When you look at fixing roads – as we get graders and [complete] patchwork here and there – it costs our First Nation a lot of money.
"It’s best if you can get a study done – a drainage study – get experts in to put a plan in place so that you can fix it and fix it right. We put that in our plan moving forward, as Chief and council,” she said.
Taylor went on to say that a majority of the cost differential between the original project proposal in 2019 and the work set to happen over the next year was self-funded by Ginoogaming.
While projected to cost around $4 million, Taylor said she and the council should receive a final sum for the overall project in the next couple of weeks.
Regardless of the price tag, Taylor said the project was well beyond necessary.
“Certain homes in the community were being flooded with the spring thaw and heavy rains . . . That led to devastation for a lot of our people, especially those [whose homes] were being flooded – a lot of money was spent to help with those homes and fixing them up.
“The drainage part of this roads project is going to help in that area to prevent future flooding,” she said.
She also described the constant maintenance required on the current road and the toll that road conditions have taken on community members’ vehicles.
It was this past June at a funding announcement with Premier Doug Ford where Taylor gave an impassioned speech, drawing attention to Ginoogaming’s failing infrastructure and a lack of support from all levels of government.
Taylor gave that speech just over a month after she made the call to declare a state of emergency at the end of May over the very same concerns – compounded with an influx of violence and the increased presence of drug activity in Ginoogaming.
At present, Chief Taylor said she met with an acting assistant deputy minister from the Premier’s office on July 9.
Initially, Taylor had been told she would be meeting with a deputy minister, then assistant deputy minister, until the day before the meeting came and she was told an acting assistant deputy minister would be meeting with her instead.
“There’s people at this table that were not decision-makers at all – they were more or less technical people.
"We met with them, and I provided a plan. I provided things that we needed to get done right away for the safety of our community, the safety of our children. . . I gave them a plan,” she said.
She added that she has yet to hear back from the Premier’s office since that meeting.
She also has not heard anything from the federal government, despite what Minister of Indigenous Services Canada, Patty Hajdu, told Dougall Media in an interview on June 20.
At the time, Hajdu said the federal government has “been at the table” with Ginoogaming and pledged to support the community when it came to infrastructure upgrades.
“How does that make you feel as a First Nation leader? It just makes you feel like they don’t care,” Taylor said.
Although still lobbying for support from the federal and provincial governments, Taylor said she and Ginoogaming’s council are staying focused on their next steps and what is best for the community.
For now, this major infrastructure project is a step in the right direction.
“What we‘re doing with this road project was something for our people to look forward to.
"It’s something positive in the community that we need to do – that would help with a lot of the issues we’re dealing with here today,” she said.