THUNDER BAY – The Ontario government needs to do more to address the transportation needs of the Far North, says Kiiwetinoong’s member of provincial parliament.
“The Ontario government continues to invest only $6 million (annually) for winter roads in the Far North,” Sol Mamakwa said Tuesday in an interview.
The funding has been the same for years, he said.
“It’s just a program that they re-announce every year,” Mamakwa added.
Seeing the static budgeting for winter roads while inflation carries on and climate change chips into winter road season, Mamakwa said, “you just shake your head.”
The winter roads line in the provincial budget is overdue for a substantial increase, he said.
Mamakwa represents a riding that comprises much of Ontario’s North and includes many remote First Nations that have no all-season road access.
He had questions for Northern Development Minister Greg Rickford last week in Toronto during hearings on the ministry’s budget estimates.
Mamakwa noted that the Northern Energy Advantage program is getting a $26-million budget boost while funding for winter roads funding remains unchanged.
“Will this government commit to winter road funding levels that reflect rising inflation and the increasing impacts of climate change?” he asked.
Rickford answered yes before adding that First Nations seem to be focused on developing all-season roads as a priority.
But many years will pass before all-season roads get built, Mamakwa told Newswatch.
In the meantime, he said, remote communities depend on a reliable winter-road network as a lifeline.
“Winter roads are absolutely vital in the communities up north that rely on them every winter to transport fuel and goods into the communities,” Mamakwa added.
Fly-in First Nations rely on winter roads for the supply of diesel, building materials and other things that are very costly to transport by plane.
But winter road seasons have been abbreviated in recent years by climate change.
Mamakwa said the budget estimates do include $5 million for new stream bridges and culverts in the North, but that’s “just a drop in the bucket” for a ministry that spends about $800 million a year.
One chief has called the $5 million “peanuts” and said “that’s not even a crossing,” Mamakwa said.
Newswatch reached out to Rickford’s office for comment.
