A new plan to build an all-weather road from the Hatchet Lake First Nation to Highway 905 is gaining some traction.
Recently, a consultant with the Hatchet Lake First Nation met with Economy Minister Bill Boyd to talk over the idea.
Alex Maurice says under the terms of the proposal, a company will be selected by the band and tasked with the job of putting the money together.
Maurice says some lending agencies have already indicated they are prepared to commit.
The contractor and band would then meet with the uranium industry, the two levels of government and possibly P3 Canada.
They would let them know the money is there, and them come up with a process to pay off the loan.
It’s a project that Maurice says would benefit everyone:
“In the end, the road will get built, and it will save the taxpayers funds, and we’ll get industry to offset the costs to pay the loan back, and we’ll also approach Aboriginal Affairs and Western Diversification to make sure everyone chips in to make sure that road into Wollaston Lake gets built.”
He says Boyd expressed willingness to explore the idea, which is encouraging.
Maurice says the province has also been talking about building new schools with traditional P3 arrangements, so he is hoping they will also find this idea acceptable.
Whatever happens, he stresses the people of Hatchet Lake deserve a road:
“Uranium mines will openly tell you that they know Hatchet Lake is the most impacted community. Five are operating on their lands right now and there’s four potential mines in the future. And eventually within ten to fifteen years, there’ll be up to nine or ten uranium mines on their land and they still don’t have a road.”