Article rank 26 Sep 2013 The Globe and Mail (Ottawa/Quebec Edition)

Roads to economic growth on reserves

ZoomBookmarkSharePrintListenTranslate Bernie Farber Former CEO of Canadian Jewish Congress, senior vice-president with Gemini Power Corp., human rights advocate If you live in a Canadian city, town, village, rural cottage, farm or even a mobile home, you take roads for granted. Yes, we all complain about potholes or insufficient highway and road lanes. Some rural roads have little or poor lighting while many roads outside major urban areas are single-lane only. If you were to take a trip to Canadas First Nations reserves, particularly in the north, your complaints would look trivial. A few weeks ago, I visited the Lac La Croix First Nation reserve (LLFN) in northwestern Ontario. Until recently, Lac La Croix could not even be accessed by road. Today as you turn off Highway 11, just past Atikokan, Ont., onto the road leading to the reserve, leaving the single lane paved road for a less maintained gravel road, for more than 70 kilometres the road twists and turns. You hold your breath as a car approaches from the opposite direction, hoping neither of you are forced off the road. You realize how difficult it must be to ensure the simple necessities of life when the only path leading into where you live is at best a lumber road and at worst impassable if weather conditions are bad. If there is a medical emergency, a helicopter ride to the nearest hospital can take two hours or more. And consider the employment situation in such communities. With poor road access, how much industry can be sustained in places like the LLFN? Is it any wonder unemployment is so high? Is it any wonder that self esteem, hope and dignity are difficult to find on many reserves? Changing this paradigm, in my view, is essential to realize a sustainable economy on First Nations reserves. Just as importantly, its the right thing to do.

Making reserves accessible by building decent roads could spur the growth of industry, including hydro-electric plants, lumber mills and more. Simply throwing money into reserves without improving infrastructure makes no sense. We must look to building sustainable economies on the reserves themselves. Other vital issues, from health care to improving social welfare, can be natural tributaries flowing from such economic growth.