A new round of public consultations will be held in Nipissing next month related to environmental assessment obligations surrounding the Algonquin Land Claim, MPP Vic Fedeli said today.
This new consultation process begins today with the posting of a Draft Environmental Evaluation Report (EER) that examines the potential environmental effects of transferring proposed Settlement Lands to the Algonquins of Ontario.
See: Native group, Ontario and feds reach agreement in principle on huge land claim
The Draft EER is now available for public review and comment for a 50-day period ending October 17. It includes the Ontario negotiation team’s initial proposals for official plan designations and zoning.
These would be applied to the settlement lands at the time of transfer, which would follow ratification and the effective date of a Final Agreement.
The lands proposed for transfer are identified in the Agreement-in-Principle which is publicly available and posted on the Ontario website at Ontario.ca/algonquinlandclaim.
Public consultation sessions will be held:
- Wednesday, September 20 in Mattawa at Mike Rodden Arena, 450 Hurdman St., and
- Thursday, September 21 at Royal Canadian Legion Branch 445, 345 Lansdowne Avenue in Callander from 4 to 8 p.m each evening.
“Please take time to be part of this important process and make your voice heard,” said Fedeli.
