The Ford government is promising shovels will be in the ground by next spring to start construction on the most northerly leg of a road into the Ring of Fire.
Premier Doug Ford entertained a delegation from Webequie First Nation, the community closest to the Far North mineral belt, in a signing ceremony for a historic Community Partnership Agreement.
The pact will unleash $39.5 million in community readiness funds from the province that will go into construction of the Webequie Supply Road, will be earmarked for local infrastructure, and will prepare the remote James Bay community for a huge economic surge in its territory.
“When you’re taking on projects of this scope and size, your community’s got to be ready,” said Greg Rickford, Ontario’s Indigenous affairs minister, who’s in charge of the government’s economic development efforts in the Ring of Fire.
The Oct. 29 agreement-signing ceremony between the province and First Nation was livestreamed on YouTube.
Rickford called it a “landmark and historic community partnership agreement” and he expects more such agreements will be announced in the coming weeks.
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