QUEEN’S PARK — Former Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne says the previous Liberal government “paved the path” for Premier Doug Ford’s newly announced road to the Ring of Fire region, and suggests the Progressive Conservatives should “recognize” the work of their predecessors.
In an interview with CTV News Toronto Wynne said the former Liberal government spent two years negotiating a framework agreement with three First Nations to build an all-season access road that would help unlock development in the resource-rich area, and suggested that the Ford government piggybacked off the relationship.
“I don’t begrudge the government coming to the next stage of an agreement,” Wynne said. “The fact is that the only reason he was able to get that agreement is because for two years we worked with all nine First Nations, we had difficult conversations, we wrangled things out and we came to a framework agreement.”
In August 2019, the Ford government ripped up those deals and sought to strike individual deals with the nine First Nations.
On Monday, Ford signed an agreement with the chiefs of two First Nations — Marten Falls First Nation and Webequie First Nation — that would kick off the initial planning and assessment required to build the road and called the deal “historic.”
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