PIKANGIKUM – It’s “a momentous milestone” for seven First Nations, said Greg Rickford.
The Ontario cabinet minister and Kenora-Rainy River MPP was referring to the province’s partnership with the federal government and First Nations organization to build a permanent bridge across the Berens River and an all-season road from the bridge to Pikangikum First Nation.
Once completed, the bridge and road will benefit Pikangikum’s Whitefeather Forest wood harvesting business and give people in the remote Ojibwe community year-round access to the provincial highway system and Red Lake to the south.
Six other First Nations – Poplar Hill, McDowell Lake, Deer Lake, North Spirit Lake, Sandy Lake and Keewaywin – stand to benefit through improved winter road connections, according to the Ontario government.
The total project cost is estimated at $76.4 million, to be shared by the province and the federal government. Officials hope to break ground next year.
Making the announcement Wednesday in Pikangikum, Rickford said the bridge and road partnership is “the next step on our path to unlocking unprecedented economic reconciliation for the region.”
Rickford is the province’s northern development minister and Indigenous affairs minister.
“This bridge and road will benefit Pikangikum First Nation through increasing access to essential goods and services as well as providing future economic opportunities,” said Pikangikum Chief Shirley Keeper.
“Overall, we see a better future for our children and for the generations to come,” she said.
“We have worked on this project for many years,” said Alex Peters, president of the Whitefeather Forest Community Resource Management Authority, a resource-stewardship corporation owned by Pikangikum First Nation.
“Our Elders guided this work through their planning for the Whitefeather Forest Initiative,” Peters said.
“We are grateful for their wisdom and support for the bridge and road.
“Pikangikum and our neighbouring First Nations to the north will now greatly benefit from this infrastructure project.”
Patty Hajdu, the federal minister of Indigenous services, said the project “is about building an economy and a country that is fair to everyone. I look forward to celebrating the grand opening of this critical infrastructure.”
The bridge is “important to all the communities,” Red Lake Mayor Fred Mota said from Ottawa, where he was attending the Association of Municipalities of Ontario conference.
“We look forward to working with the First Nations and the (provincial and federal) governments on this,” he added.
Frontier Lithium, a mining company headquartered near Sudbury, also stands to benefit from the Berens River Bridge as it would link its PAK property north of the river to the provincial highway system.
“We recognize the leadership of Pikangikum First Nation and the supporting Treaty 5 Ontario communities in securing this transformative project, one that will catalyze economic potential for the region,” Frontier president and CEO Trevor Walker said in a statement from the company.
“The successful completion of the all-season bridge and road infrastructure will enhance mobility within the region, foster economic growth, and improve access to goods, health care, education and other critical services,” Walker said.
“Importantly, this infrastructure will help unlock the potential at our PAK Lithium Project by improving connectivity to global markets.”
This year’s federal budget indicated funding to support the Berens River Bridge and road project and an “all-seasons road project” in northeast Saskatchewan, but didn’t say how much money each project would get or when the projects might start.
