Biodiversity Boreal Climate change Natural resource development

WCS Canada Comment: Draft Environmental Assessment/Impact Statement – Webequie Supply Road

O'Connor, C., Palmer, L., Gobin, J., Kirkwood, A. & Ray, J.

Access

---

Key points

Webequie Supply Road represents one of three parts (with the Marten Falls Community Access Road and Northern Road Link) of a proposed all-season road that would connect the Ring of Fire mining area to the provincial road network, as well as provide all-season road access for Webequie First Nation and Marten Falls First Nation.

• We recognize the right of Webequie First Nation to move forward in fulfilling their rights to lead on decision-making for their territory, and we applaud the community for advancing the Project to this stage. We provide our current comments in light of continued gaps in the provincial and federal regulatory processes for the region - issues raised in our previous submissions that remain unresolved.
• Our primary concern is the treatment of the Webequie Supply Road, Marten Falls Community Access Road, and Northern Road Link as separate undertakings, despite their functional interconnection as a single infrastructure corridor. This disjointed approach prevents a fair and transparent evaluation of reasonable alternatives for the full corridor, of impacts to ecological integrity, and of cumulative
  regional effects.
• Other concerns include impacts to vegetation, hydrology, and soils, including forests, and peatlands, with related implications for long-term carbon storage and climate change; barriers to wildlife and fish movement created by a road located at the ecotone between the Hudson Plains and Boreal Shield ecozones and within the headwaters of intact rivers; and growth-inducing effects that are missing from the cumulative-effects analysis.

Recommended citation

O'Connor, C., Palmer, L., Gobin, J., Kirkwood, A. & Ray, J. (2025). WCS Canada Comment: Draft Environmental Assessment/Impact Statement – Webequie Supply Road. Wildlife Conservation Society Canada [WCS Canada]. https://wcscanada.org/resources/wcs-canada-comment-draft-environmental-assessment-impact-statement-webequie-supply-road/