Wayne Slipperjack recalled the early days of the dial-up Internet in Eabametoong First Nation in the late 1990s: the telltale crackle of a signal sent over the phone line, followed by the agonizing wait while downloading. of a file.

“It was slow back then, but we never really complained about it, because we thought, ‘We have the internet – it’s pretty good,’ said Slipperjack, who now lives in Thunder Bay.

But in an era when everything from business to education to healthcare is done online, ‘good enough’ is no longer enough, and the Matawa First Nations Tribal Council is now on the right track. to connect Eabametoong and four neighboring communities to high-speed Internet. by 2023.

Rapid Lynx involves the construction of a 700-kilometer long-haul fiber-optic broadband network that, when completed, will provide ultra-fast access to residents of the air-accessible communities of Eabametoong, Nibinamik, Neskantaga, Webequie and Marten. Falls. .

The provincial and federal governments joined together to provide $ 67 million for the project in 2017, and construction began in 2020.

What was once a distant hope for area residents is now drawing closer to reality, and Slipperjack has been unequivocal about the impact this project will have.

“With the arrival of broadband in the region over the next couple of years, there will be a lot of changes and a lot of people will be doing what they do (now) online,” said Slipperjack, who is the director in Rapid Lynx training.

“This is a game changer for many communities in the Matawa region.

Slipperjack joined a group of industry experts to talk about the Rapid Lynx Project at a virtual annual general meeting and forum hosted by the Anishnawbe Business Professional Association (ABPA) on October 6.

This year’s theme, “Stronger Together,” focused on impactful partnerships and how collaboration can help Indigenous communities become key players in Ontario’s economy.

A key partnership established for the Rapid Lynx Project is with Magellan Advisors LLC, a Denver, CO-based company that helps communities plan, design and build fiber networks.

Sherry McCuller, a senior consultant at Magellan who has been working on Rapid Lynx since 2017, said it’s not enough to just install fiber and build the infrastructure around it.

Communities also need to know how to take advantage of the new opportunities offered by high-speed internet.

“When Rapid Lynx is completed, it will rival the speed and capacity of communications networks previously accessible only in major cities in Canada,” said McCuller.

“The question becomes, now that we have it, what do we do with it?”

Some of the more immediate responses include access to essential services like health care, skills training and education, she noted.

But there will also be opportunities to participate in the digital economy – used by more than four billion people around the world – while modernizing and expanding into new markets.

“Rapid Lynx will support the expansion and diversification of economic development for Matawa First Nations while protecting their unique natural environment and cultural heritage, which is one of the best things about the digital economy,” said McCuller.

However, the community must first strengthen its digital culture and practical support for new participants: how to develop a website? Which online marketplace best suits your needs? How do you navigate the rules of international shipping?

Matawa has already started this work, educating economic development managers to help them understand the benefits of high speed and how they can use it to attract and retain new businesses in communities, McCuller said.

They are also developing scholarships to attract students interested in furthering their studies in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT).

McCuller predicted that the advent of a faster internet would lead to mutually beneficial partnerships between Matawa and private sector investors in the region.

“Matawa First Nation leadership welcomes the ongoing discussions with businesses and investors interested in the region to explore ways in which Rapid Lynx can accelerate jobs and economic development in the region,” a- she declared.

Inspire Resources and Tamarack Mining Services are two companies that are already considering these opportunities.

Both relatively new to the mining industry, they offer similar approaches to resource extraction, in which indigenous communities become active participants in projects from the start. In either case, high speed internet is necessary to realize their visions.

As it stands, said Kyle Pearce, Vancouver-based Inspire Resources is “very dissatisfied” with the current approach to mining.

“Our goal is to reverse the mining value proposition,” said Pearce, vice president of community living at Inspire.

“So instead of resource extraction companies coming into remote communities, extracting so many resources to generate value for shareholders who live far away, we see the purpose of mining as generating resources so that communities have long-term sustainable development. “

Since mineral resources are often located in or near communities, they should design, manage and plan resource remediation alongside businesses, Pearce said.

To reduce the negative impacts of resource extraction projects, Inspire plans to design new and diverse mine designs that reduce the mine’s footprint, from project initiation through drilling and processing.

High-speed internet access also paves the way for establishing local and regional supply chains and training local people to work in industry.

“The broadband that you bring into a community will allow people to be trained faster, to have more access to information and upgrades, and that is, of course, a benefit for jobs. community and for the overall development of the mine, ”said Pearce.

Toronto-based Tamarack Mining Services is not a mining company, but it also sees the industry from a new perspective.

Describing itself as “the world’s premier group purchasing organization for the mining industry,” Tamarack is discovering how entire regions can benefit from establishing a single supply chain. This is the flip side of the way mines traditionally do things.

But Lee Barter, founder and COO of Tamarack, believes it is a strategy that creates a “more inclusive and strategic mine supply chain, and perhaps more secure and efficient.” “.

With Tamarack’s approach, a community may be able to establish an expertise that serves multiple mines over generations, rather than serving only one mine for the life of the operation.

“If you have high speed internet in a community, it changes the dynamic,” Barter said.

“The communities that used to work with mines are now linked to every other mine on the planet. “

Over the past 18 months, the world has learned that a lot of work can be done outside of the office, and Barter said a similar setup can be established to provide services to a mine.

With high speed internet, communities have more opportunities to outsource services to mines in other regions, provinces or even countries, he said.

“We believe that IBA (Impact Benefit Agreement) holders have a different engagement in the supply chain because they can use the skills they have developed working with a mine and sell them to d ‘other mines,’ Barter said.

“It decouples community business or this economic opportunity from the limited lifespan of a single mine. “

Whatever opportunities present themselves, Wayne Slipperjack knows life will be different with a faster internet.

Craftsmen can sell their wares not only locally, but around the world, while hunters and trappers can connect directly from their remote camp.

During the first five years, Matawa will oversee the operation of the network. During this period, people from each of the communities will be trained to take over, so that it will ultimately be fully owned and operated by the member communities.

It’s going to be a steep learning curve, but Slipperjack believes the area is ready.

“Once it is completed, there will be a lot of changes in our communities,” he said. “There will be a lot of enthusiasm because it will be much better for our communities than what they are currently receiving. “