http://www.ontla.on.ca/house-proceedings/transcripts/files_pdf/23-OCT-2017_L108.pdf

Mr. Ross Romano: Again to the minister: The socioeconomic and infrastructure challenges within these communities are similar to those we would see in Third
World countries.
Following the discovery of the Ring of Fire, the Liberal government signed a regional framework agreement,
the RFA, with all the Matawa First Nations communities
so that these living conditions could be addressed in the
consultation process. The Liberals then hired high-priced
consultants to negotiate the Ring of Fire road development. It has been 11 years now and there has been no
progress on the road beyond Liberal announcements
filled with empty election promises.
To date, these failed negotiations have wasted taxpayers in excess of $30 million.
After all this wasted money, these communities continue to live in Third World conditions and are in desperate need of help.
To the minister: Wouldn’t you think that all this
money would have been better spent on solutions to the
living conditions in these communities as opposed to
padding the pockets of high-priced Liberal consultants?

Hon. David Zimmer: Thank you for the question.
Necessary components to relieving the difficult conditions we find in the Far North are economic development, resource development and finding a way for First
Nations to share responsibly and fairly in the benefits of
resource development.
I know the member opposite was on a tour of the Ring
of Fire recently. I, too, about two weeks ago, was at the
Ring of Fire with Minister Mauro and Minister Gravelle,
executives from Noront and chiefs from the Matawa
tribal council. We had an on-site meeting. We sat in a
ring in the outdoors, at the Ring of Fire. We received a
thorough briefing from the chiefs, from Noront and from
the political people that attended that meeting.
I can tell you that there is a willingness from the First
Nations, from Noront and from government to develop
the Ring of Fire so that we can provide the economic
opportunity, which will go a long, long way to improving
conditions—

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Thank you. I remind
the minister and all members: When I stand, you sit.
Final supplementary.

Mr. Ross Romano: Again to the minister: The road
that was initially proposed to unlock the economic opportunity in the Ring of Fire runs through Matawa First
Nations lands and, as such, requires their consent. To obtain that consent, the Liberal government signed an RFA
with these communities, promising to negotiate in good
faith.
Eabametoong and Neskantaga have not agreed to this
development, fearing the road alone will not address or
improve their community living conditions.
The Premier’s answer to this roadblock was to change
the rules of the RFA. Now she plans to reroute the road
to avoid their lands so that they won’t have a say. However, Eabametoong and Neskantaga hold historical land
claims in the Ring of Fire.
This is a slap in the face to those negotiations. To the
minister: Is this your government’s idea of good-faith negotiations?

Hon. Bill Mauro: You’ve got to pick a lane. You
can’t drive in both lanes at the same time.
The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The Minister of
Municipal Affairs will come to order

Hon. David Zimmer:  The reason that Minister
Gravelle and I, Minister Mauro, Noront executives and
the Ring of Fire chiefs went to the Ring of Fire about two
weeks ago—we spent the day there in extensive briefings, extensive consultations, to find out how best to deal
with the transportation corridor issue. Obviously, if we’re
going to extract minerals with the involvement and the
participation of First Nations, there has to be a transportation corridor to remove those minerals, those assets, to
smelters and other places. That was the purpose of the
meeting. That’s why this government has set aside a billion dollars for a transportation corridor.
We are presently in negotiations with our federal
counterparts. We are in negotiations with the private
sector to execute a plan that is satisfactory to the nine
Matawa chiefs. The meeting—
The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Thank you. New
question