CORNWALL -- Despite the lack of signatures on an official agreement, the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne has thrown its support behind the construction of a new bridge between its district of Cornwall Island and the City of Cornwall.
Acting Transport Canada Minister John Baird announced a beginning to the new low-level bridge's construction Tuesday near the existing bridge and the banks of the St. Lawrence River.
"I'm therefore pleased, as the regional minister for eastern Ontario," Baird said, "to announce that the Government of Canada will invest $75 million to build a new low-level, north channel bridge at the Seaway International Bridge."
Mohawk Council of Akwesasne (MCA) Grand Chief Mike Mitchell wasn't present for the announcement, but quickly released a statement saying the council is pleased to hear that the Federal Bridge Corporation Limited (FBCL) is moving forward with construction plans for the new low-level bridge.
"We are very happy that the bridge construction will commence," Mitchell said. "We will do everything we can to insure that this project is successful."
As it stands, the MCA and FBCL are in the midst of hammering out a partnership agreement regarding the bridge project.
"We're putting all our good faith into getting it done," Mitchell said. "Whatever difficulties there are, we've committed to resolving them."
One of the obstacles slowing the agreement is a building put up near the now closed port of entry on Cornwall Island, which the FBCL filed a legal action over.
The FBCL claims the building, constructed by a grassroots community group, the Akwesasne Peoples Fire (APF), last October, is too close to a gas line.
Mitchell said the APF has agreed to move the building within the next month.
However, APF member Nona Benedict said the community group wants the group members who built the meeting place to move it themselves.
"When the building is moved, we want it to be us that moves it," Benedict said. "If the MCA moves it and something happens to it, they won't care. At least this way we'll be responsible for it."
Benedict said the building has to be moved at least 15 feet away from the gas pipeline's location, which APF claims it requested long before putting the building up, but never received.
The other condition attached to moving the building is getting access to grant money from Enbridge, the company behind the gas line.
Benedict says APF has yet to receive any information about how to apply for the grant. She explained that the building was funded entirely by community donations and fundraisers, so finding money for a move is very difficult.
Once the building has been moved, Mitchell says FBCL will drop its civil suit, and the onus to get it done is on the MCA.
Mitchell said the Akwesasne community protest over the arming of Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officers at the port of entry on Cornwall Island won't interfere with the bridge's construction.
"The Grand Chief regards those as issues that will be dealt with separately by the MCA," read his statement.
Mitchell noted that the MCA has been waiting for the CBSA to announce a permanent location for the port of entry, which is anticipated at the end of August, to replace its interim location in Cornwall at the north end of the existing north span of the Seaway International Bridge.
Baird assured the crowd gathered at Lamoureux Park Tuesday that discussions over the port's location won't affect the progress of the bridge project.
"Despite that challenge, the bridge is needed now and the jobs are needed now," he said. "We're very keen to get on with it. We've discovered that money that sits there too long, other people come up with ideas on how to spend it."
Local MP Guy Lauzon pointed out that the bridge's design has been laid out in such a way as to accommodate "any eventuality of those negotiations."
FBCL chair Keith Robson said the design adaptations were a requirement because "we are obliged to provide (the CBSA) with their facility at the end of the day."
"The bridge is now designed in such a way that it won't matter which solution they should decide on," Robson said.
NEW BRIDGE MEANS EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES
Mitchell anticipates Akwesasne's workforce will be an important part of the bridge's construction.
"We are aware that Akwesasne's skilled construction workers and high steel workers will be required all the way through the construction and dismantling phases of this project," said Mitchell, adding that the steel workers currently on the job away from home look forward to returning and working on the bridge.
"The MCA and the Akwesasne community have been waiting for good news like this for quite awhile," Mitchell said. "This construction project will provide hundreds of jobs for our skilled trades people and workforce and will be a boost to our economy. We look forward to its commencement."