Ring of Fire road will be ‘real opportunity’ for northern Ontario, minister says

Sensing a potential change in tone from the next federal government as U.S. President Donald Trump slaps tariffs on Canada, the Ford government is ramping up its efforts to build a road to the Ring of Fire.

Creating a way to mine the mineral-rich area in northern Ontario has been on Premier Doug Ford’s to-do list since he was elected for the first time in 2018, but little progress has been made.

Now, with a federal election in full swing, Ontario sees a potential opportunity to move its long-held ambitions forward.

Prime Minister and Liberal Leader Mark Carney has said he wants to create a process for the federal government to support nation-building projects if he’s elected, with the Ring of Fire being one option.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has specifically promised to fast-track work on the project. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has not announced a policy on it yet.

As the federal race continues, Ontario is positioning itself to make its pitch to the eventual winner — and is moving to try and get local First Nations communities on board.

A road to the Ring of Fire would be a massive technical undertaking that requires the buy-in of local communities. The province is trying to frame the project as an opportunity not just for mining companies, but also to transform the economic fortunes of everyone living in the area.

“The communities in that region are the only ones left in northern Ontario operating exclusively on diesel, and they have no road access,” Indigenous Affairs Minister Greg Rickford, who is responsible for work on the Ring of Fire, said in an interview on Focus Ontario.

“So this is a real opportunity to build those partnerships out in a way that those communities can have road access, better economics, better access to health and different services and be an important part of the development of the Ring of Fire.”

While some local leaders have appeared with provincial politicians to endorse some road-related projects, others have staged protests and condemned the way the government has handled consultations.

Ontario NDP MPP Sol Mamakwa said he didn’t believe the Ford government was coming to the table with a genuine desire to solve the issues in the area needed before a collaborative approach can be agreed on the Ring of Fire.

“They want access to the resources that are there (but) they have no interest in dealing with the housing, they have no plans to address the nursing stations or the high schools in the north and the infrastructure,” he said in a separate interview with Focus Ontario.

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“The mental health issues, the addictions, they don’t want to address those.”

Rickford said he had “never talked to a First Nations chief” in the Ring of Fire area who was against developing it. He conceded, however, that their “expectations about how it might occur” are different depending on what their community needs.

Nonetheless, Rickford is pitching the economic boon that would come from a massive provincial — and potentially federal — building effort in the region.

“The legacy infrastructure required to support this kind of a world-class site is as big an economic experience as a mine itself,” he said.

“You’re building a highway essentially between Toronto and Montreal in those terms. You gotta think, that’s a lot of work. There’s a lot of employment opportunities before we’re actually into the extraction activity.”

Mamkwa stressed that how the government goes about delivering that is key — and that if it isn’t a full partnership, the province will face serious pushback.

“I think being the rights holders, First Nation members, community members, they’re starting to realize that the governments are taking this approach,” he said.

“And I think the more oppressed they are, the more colonial the government is, the more nations will stand together, the more they will stand up. And I think that’s what’s going to happen and I tried to warn them about it but they don’t listen.”

Focus Ontario airs at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 29, on Focus Ontario.

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