BY CARL CLUTCHEY NORTHSHORE BUREAU | Updated 8 hours ago
After facing months of criticism for appearing to be letting the all-important Ring of Fire file fizzle on her watch, a tough-sounding Premier Kathleen Wynne says she wants action in “weeks, not months.”
In a letter to the region’s nine First Nation chiefs that was made public this week, Wynne suggests that time is wasting.
“We have not achieved much of the progress on road and infrastructure development that we had hoped for under (negotiations) over the past three years,” Wynne said.
Wynne, who in the letter says she still hopes that progress will be made, reminded the chiefs that the province earmarked $1 billion for Ring of Fire infrastructure three years ago. The area is located in the James Bay Lowlands, about 500 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay.
“We should not squander the opportunity to build all-season roads and set the stage for future social and economic growth for communities that are supportive,” she writes.
“The time has now come,” she adds, “to make some decisions that will move us forward. This is especially true when it comes to connecting remote communities to all-season road infrastructure.”
Long Lake First Nation Chief Veronica Waboose, one of the nine chiefs who received the letter, said she was surprised Wynne went public with it.
Waboose said the chiefs have been asked not to discuss the negotiations in public while the negotiations continue between the affected First Nations, the province and the federal government.
See the full story on pages A1 and A3 of today's print and digital editions of The Chronicle-Journal.
