GREENSTONE — Aroland First Nation is taking a big step toward becoming a Ring of Fire hub and it's is very welcome news, Greenstone Mayor Jamie McPherson said Tuesday.
“It’s good for the whole area,” he said after Aroland and the province announced an agreement that will enable the eventual construction of roads to the Ring of Fire.
“We have to work together as an area and help each other, and this is great,” said McPherson.
“We’re extremely, extremely proud of what Aroland has accomplished today.”
Aroland First Nation Chief Sonny Gagnon, Premier Doug Ford and cabinet minister Greg Rickford announced a “shared prosperity agreement” for economic growth and infrastructure Tuesday in a news conference in Toronto.
“Unlocking the economic potential of the Ring of Fire region” is crucial to Ontario, Ford told reporters assembled in a Queen’s Park media room.
The agreement includes support for upgrades to roads that are important to connecting Ontario highways to Marten Falls First Nation and the Ring of Fire region.
“This is all about moving forward,” said Gagnon, whose First Nation reserve straddles Highway 643, which the province hopes to connect to the mineral-rich Ring of Fire.
“I think Marten Falls will be very happy that we’re building an all-weather road to their community,” he added.
A government news release said the roads and highway that will be upgraded under the prosperity agreement “will one day connect to the proposed Marten Falls Community Access Road, Northern Road Link and Webequie Supply Road, linking Martin Falls First Nation and Webequie First Nation to the Ontario highway network and providing access to the Ring of Fire.”
Besides roadwork, the agreement provides for “$20 million for community infrastructure projects that support business development, boost community well-being and preparedness to participate in economic activities related to mineral development” and “up to $2.27 million for a comprehensive community plan to support business development and community wellness.”
The news release also said the agreement includes $70 million toward planning of the Greenstone Electricity Transmission Line, which would connect First Nations to the Ontario power grid. Aroland is a partner with several other First Nations in the project.
Rickford called the news conference “a celebration of what this government has been working on for the last six years” and spoke of “shared prosperity” and “legacy infrastructure.”
The day is “a historic day in no uncertain terms,” said Rickford, the province’s minster of Indigenous affairs and northern development.
Tuesday’s agreement comes about seven months after Ford publicly signed “letters of confirmation” for economic development with Aroland and three other First Nations – Ginoogaming, Long Lake #58 and Animbiigoo Zaagi’igan Anishinaabek.
Marten Falls and Webequie, two First Nations in the Ring of Fire region, signed a road agreement with the province last year.
A vast mineral-rich region in the James Bay Lowlands, the Ring of Fire includes an Australian company’s proposed Eagle’s Nest nickel mine. The company, Wyloo, hopes to begin mine construction in 2027 and see construction of a road to Eagle’s Nest start the same year.
