Resolute Forest Products signed a five-year commercial agreement with the Red Rock Indian Band, an Ojibwe First Nation in northwestern Ontario.
The agreement is a formal commitment between the company and the band to identify and pursue new economic opportunities and commercial investments, as well as to establish a collaborative forest management planning process for the woodlands Resolute manages.
The community of 320 on-reserve residents is located 120 kilometres east of Thunder Bay near the Highway 11-17 junction.
Resolute has wood products and pulp and paper operations in Thunder Bay, Atikokan and Ignace.
“We want to make sure the generations to come will benefit from sustainable jobs and economic opportunities,” said Red Rock Chief Ed Wawia in a Feb. 15 Resolute news release.
“We rely on the forest products industry to create wealth and to sustain our growth. Our partnership with Resolute has realized many opportunities for our contractors, members and our nation as a whole; opportunities that will benefit us now and in the long term.”
Resolute said in the last year it has signed agreements worth more than $100 million in new economic investments with seven Ontario First Nations – Nigigoonsiminikaaning, Lac des Mille Lacs, Seine River, Couchiching, Mitaanjigamiing, Lac La Croix and Kiashke Zaaging Anishinaabek – which have led to contracts in construction, transportation and harvesting.