By Mike Stimpson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Source: SNnewswatch.com
Eabametoong First Nation is preparing for Phase 1 of a project to add about 300 homes to the Treaty 9 community.
Crews are clearing roadways and spaces on the east side of the community in preparation for construction of housing on 48 lots in the East End Expansion’s first phase, slated to begin later this spring.
Phase 1 is to be followed by 58 lots and 16 rural lots in the second phase, and more than 160 lots in the project’s third and fourth phases.
A new school will also be constructed in the area, Chief Solomon Atlookan said this week.
Eabametoong First Nation lost its old school, the John C. Yesno Education Centre, to arson in January 2024. A temporary school for 300-plus children in kindergarten through Grade 10 opened in November of that year with a goal of having a permanent replacement in five to seven years.
The new subdivision is being developed on 125.7 hectares of land, according to a post on the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada’s website.
Work before home construction includes clearing and grading land, constructing roads, creating driveways and walkways, and installing sewer and water service connections.
Atlookan said crews have materials to work with but he hopes more will come in before the winter road to his community closes for the season.
“The winter road is so important for us because there’s lots of stuff that is going in now — heavy equipment, pipes, and you name it, for water and sewer (service), plus the hydro poles and all that.
“Last week I was talking to senior staff and they were saying we need another 100 loads. I don’t know if we will, with this weather, be able to get all that (trucked in).
“There’s a lot of stuff that’s going to be happening, and that winter road is very important to us (to supply) the material we need.”
A band councillor said in a post on social media that a blessing ceremony was held before the current prep work for “thanks to the land and protection for all of the crews that will be working on the project.”
More than 1,600 of Eabametoong’s approximately 2,900 members live on the First Nation’s Fort Hope reserve almost 400 kilometres north of Thunder Bay, according to Indigenous Services Canada.
Fort Hope is “in need of 200 houses,” Atlookan told Newswatch, “so it’s not a very good situation right now. And overcrowding causes a lot of social issues.”
(Photo: Eabametoong flag)
