More twists to Ring of Fire road proposals: sidelined first nations vow to halt far North road construction plans.

• Author: Ross, Ian
• Position: MINING

It's a tale of two maps. A supposed breakthrough on the road to the Ring of Fire hit an apparent speedbump in late August.

Premier Kathleen Wynne appeared to have reached a milestone moment with an agreement to bring two permanent roads to three remote First Nations and finally kickstart the process to build a road to the Far North mineral development.

But within days of her Aug. 21 announcement, the chiefs of four of the five communities closest to the Ring of Fire either backtracked on their support for a shared east-west community/industrial road, or vowed to stop its planned construction in early 2019.

"The reality is that all the roads to the Ring of Fire traverse the territory of our nations, and nothing is happening without the free, prior, and informed consent of our First Nations," said Neskantaga Chief Wayne Moonias in a news release.

His community and Eabametoong were left out of the agreement, which involved Nibinamik, Webequie and Marten Falls in the government's two-corridor Ring of Fire roads proposal.

Moonias objected to Wynne's "divisive approach" in negotiating agreements with individual communities of the Matawa tribal council as a strategy to run roads into the James Bay region without their approval.

Under the 2010 Far North Act, most development in the Far North, including all-weather transportation infrastructure, is prohibited from proceeding in advance of a jointly approved community-based land use plan for the area.

The plans are led by Indigenous communities in partnership with the province.

In her August press conference, Wynne said it hasn't been easy to achieve consensus among the Matawa communities but she stuck to her government's stance that it's willing to work with--and extend road infrastructure to--any community ready for development.

"I don't think there's any attempt on the part of this government or industry to isolate a particular community or to sideline anyone," said Wynne. "This is about finding a way forward."

A government-provided map showed an east-west road to the Ring of Fire deposits, beginning near Pickle Lake with branch roads leading into Nibinamik and Webequie.

The route roughly follows the path of the winter road network.

A second route extends north from the Arolamd-Nakina--area along an .industry route, similar to the one staked by KWG Resources in 2011, that veers to the east toward Marten Falls at roughly the halfway point to the Ring of Fire.

But a revised map released on Aug. 25...