Fort William First Nations, Ont. -- Newly elected Fort William First Nation Chief Peter Collins says he plans to hold one-on-one meetings with CN officials in an attempt to get the James Street Swing Bridge reopened to vehicular traffic.
Collins on Wednesday said those talks would not include the City of Thunder Bay, whom he criticized for taking the issue to court.
That’s not the right tactic, Collins said.
“To be honest with you, I’ve already set up a meeting with CN,” said Collins, who in January 2014 called for a blockade of the railway crossing over the Kaministiquia River after CN reopened the span to trains just days after the Oct. 29, 2013 fire that closed the bridge.
“I will be meeting with them in the very near future at a private location outside of the city. It will be ourselves and CN and we’re doing to work on a solution. And we’re going to sit there until we come up with a solution.”
Fort William First Nation estimated last year its businesses were losing $50,000 a day in business, as customers chose not to take the longer route to the reserve via Highway 61.
Collins said he plans to seek a short-term solution to get traffic moving immediately, and a long-term solution that would involve building a new bridge with a five-way partnership between the First Nation, the City of Thunder Bay, CN and both the provincial and federal levels of government.
For now Collins, who was sworn into office on Wednesday, plans to go it alone with the railway.
“I intend on getting a solution to this in the short term and creating a long-term plan,” he said.
Collins said over the years Fort William First Nation and city officials have looked at a number of locations for a new Unity Bridge, but none stack up to the current location.
“We looked at many locations, but the only location that makes sense is where it is now,” Collins said.
It’s premature to say how much a new bridge might cost, or how much the people of Fort William First Nation would be willing to commit to the project.
But they would be a paying partner, Collins said.
“It’s going to be a five-party agreement, if we look at it at all.”
Collins added that dragging the matter through the courts – both CN and the city have filed suit – will take far too long.
“That is not the right way to come up with a solution. That will drag on for time in memorial,” Collins said. “Is there a solution at the end of the day when we’re all broke because we’ve millions of dollars in legal fees? Absolutely not. We need to come up with a solution with all our legal guys at the table and put it to paper.”
City of Thunder Bay officials rejected the railway’s most recent offer, saying CN is trying to get out of a 1906 agreement they say requires it to maintain the bridge to vehicular and pedestrian traffic in perpetuity.
The railway had offered to share the rail deck to with traffic, alternating movement in each direction.
Collins, who defeated incumbent chief Georjann Morriseau 342-337 last Saturday’s band election, said other issues he plans to focus on during his latest two-year term as chief include education and seniors. He said he plans to investigate the possibility of opening a trade school on the reserve to fill what he sees as a coming need for skilled workers in Northwestern Ontario, and plans to invest some of the millions Fort William received in a recent land-claim settlement to help its elderly residents live better lives.
