For Ontario's most northern riding, there's a feeling of neglect that residents are looking to change

In one of Ontario's newest electoral ridings, residents hope whichever party forms the next provincial government will fix a longstanding sense of neglect and address a wide range of issues disproportionately felt in the far north.

Kiiwetinoong — which means north in Ojibway — is the largest riding in Ontario by geographic area, but one of the smallest in terms of population. It was one of two new ridings created for the 2018 election, and the majority of the population is Indigenous.

Most of the communities in the electoral district are accessible year round only by plane, including First Nations like Sandy Lake, Eabametoong, and Fort Severn. Other large communities in the district include Sioux Lookout, a key hub for services within the far north, and Red Lake, a primarily mining community.

During the riding's inaugural election in 2018, the NDP's Sol Mamakwa won with more than 3,200 votes — more than 50 per cent of the total votes cast.

In this election, electors will have the choice between:

• Mamakwa, NDP.
• Dwight Monck, Progressive Conservative Party.
• Manuela Michelizzi, Liberal Party.
• Suzette Foster, Green Party.
• Alex Dornn, New Blue Party.

Longstanding issues to be addressed

Chris Moonias, a former chief of Neskantaga First Nation, said a long list of challenges need to be urgently addressed, in particularly for remote First Nations, in the riding.

"We have a backlog of over 100 houses, and we have homelessness because of that, and overcrowding, which contributes to social problems in the community. There's also drug addiction. We haven't had water or clean drinking water for 27 years … the price of food is very high, you know if I bought groceries [up north] it would be like quadruple [the price] or more," Moonias said.

Neskantaga has captured international media attention for their advocacy work to bring an end to their boil water advisory, but they're not the only communities waiting for clean water. A majority of the 23 long-term boil water advisories remaining in Ontario are in the Kiiwetinoong riding.

"From what I experience, it's a lack of political will to get clean drinking water for communities up north. It's not because it can't be done or the location — there's just no political will," he said.

Clean drinking water is not the only issue that's been well documented and well known, but has failed to see meaningful provincial government action or change, Moonias added.

The First Nation has also opposed the development of the Ring of Fire, a large mineral deposit contained within the Kiiwetinoong riding, as it is currently proposed. Along with a few other First Nations in the far north, Neskantaga declared a moratorium on all development until they could be appropriately consulted.

"Without our prior, informed consent, nothing will happen in our territory, in our homeland. We need to participate. We need to be part of this decision-making process," Moonias said, adding none of the four, major party leaders have committed to putting all nearby First Nations at the decision-making table when it comes to the Ring of Fire.

Two other First Nations in the riding — Webequie and Marten Falls — are acting as proponents for three road projects that will link both of their communities and the Ring of Fire to the provincial highway network.

'There's a big disconnect'

Annwyl Shewchuk of Red Lake also spoke about a general feeling of neglect in the area. A small business owner, she said she had to wait several days for important government documents to come in the mail because of weather-related service delays.

A portion of the only direct highway to Red Lake has been closed for several weeks due to high water levels and road washouts. While there's a detour available for passenger vehicles, it effectively cut the community off from the rest of the province, causing delays to Canada Post deliveries.

That was a problem for Red Lake residents, Shewchuk said, because many people rely on Canada Post service for medicine, paycheques and other essential supplies that are not readily accessible.

"There's a big disconnect. We're cut off from the world because of flooding, but they're not really fixing the issue, so it's really frustrating."

Shewchuk said she and other small business owners rely heavily on freight, and they are paying "huge surcharges" because of high fuel prices and the need for delivery services to take the back roads in order to detour around the highway, adding she would like to see governments provide compensation to businesses that could then be passed on to the consumer.

"For a small population base, our votes probably don't really make a big difference, and there's big issues elsewhere, so it just doesn't really seem to have an impact on Queen's Park," Shewchuk said, adding the feeling of neglect is more general and not tied to any specific provincial party.

Low voter turnout rate

Derek Fox is worried about the feeling of neglect resulting in a low voter turnout rate for this provincial election. Fox is grand chief of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN), a political advocacy organization that represents 49 First Nations across Treaty 9 and 5, most of which are in the Kiiwetinoong riding.

He said NAN does not officially endorse any candidates and he's just been encouraging people to vote. During a trip to advance polls in Sioux Lookout, Fox said, he helped more than a dozen young voters by vouching for their identity, because they didn't have identification with them — a barrier that Elections Canada has indicated can result in lower turnout rates among Indigenous people.

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An added challenge, Fox said, is there has been little engagement from party leaders on Indigenous-specific issues.

"It's kind of taken a backseat, when you listen to the debates and the issues that are hotly contested, the First Nations issues don't seem to be making their list of priorities."

In the 2018 election, Kiiwetinoong had the second lowest voter turnout rate of any ridings in Ontario, with 45.8 per cent of the eligible electorate casting a ballot.