441-02300 (Culture and heritage)

Whereas:

• The 5,000-year-old Mnjikaning Fish Weirs marks one of the oldest human developments in Canada, and one of the largest and best-preserved wooden fish weirs in eastern North America;

• The world knows little about the historical significance of the Mnjikaning Fish Weirs National Historic Site, which is one of the attractions along the Trent-Severn Waterway National Historic Site, is woefully marked for public viewing and is hidden under a busy Highway 12 bridge. There is a forlorn area with a Parks Canada sign, an old provincial plaque and a dated interpretive panel with six paragraphs of trilingual (Ojibway, English and French) information along a paved path to the lake where the "Grandfather Rock" stands in the middle of a concrete ceremonial area;

• The City of Orillia, in partnership with the Township of Ramara and the Chippewas of Rama First Nation, and through their consultant AECOM, completed a Municipal Class Environmental Assessment (EA) study. The proposal was to provide a recreational trail connection across the Atherley Narrows, enhance existing significant cultural heritage features and establish a place of ceremony for Aboriginal people. There is an economic development incentive since this would create a significant tourism draw; and

• Parks Canada wrote to the federal government in support of the bridge project, saying the weirs "have a profound cultural and spiritual meaning for First Nations peoples and are a critical component of their cultural heritage" and the proposed pedestrian bridge, ceremonial First Nations sacred space and trail connection fits well with its "efforts to further enhance this national treasure."

We, the undersigned citizens and residents of Canada, call on the Government of Canada to:

• Work towards getting approval of the Grant application that was submitted in 2019 by the Chippewas of Rama First Nation, the City of Orillia, and the Township of Ramara, to replace the existing swing bridge with a pedestrian/snowmobile bridge, boardwalk, interpretive centre and First Nations ceremonial area that connects trails on either side of the narrows and tells the Mnjikaning Fish Weirs story.