Supplied by Garden River First Nation… GARDEN RIVER FIRST NATION April 25, 2016:  Chief Paul Syrette issued the following statement regarding the closure of Highway 17 B and the importance of traffic and pedestrian safety, awareness and education.

The efforts and hard work of many Chiefs and Councils to relocate Highway 17 East had been going on for nearly 40 years. The primary issue for the Council and the citizens of Garden River is safety and wellbeing of our people and the general public.

Over the past years surveys had been commissioned by the First Nation highlighting the number of fatalities and injuries caused by the highway and high speed of traffic going through the main populated area.

The purpose of the new four-lane was to move the high traffic volume of cars and transports around the community and bring safety to the core area of Garden River.

The amount of time and money invested into the research and data collection of incidents will never bring back the loss of life suffered by many families in the community and the bodily damage done.

A portion of Highway 17 B is designated as a Community Safety Zone so that the passing traffic can abide by the safety regulations set out by the Ministry of Transportation Ontario yet numerous incidents continue on a daily basis with high speeds of vehicles.

What is most alarming is the ignorance of motorists when our children are boarding or leaving the school bus and vehicles disobeying the school bus rules in their rush to get to their destination and are not stopping properly.  We need to protect our children when getting on or off the bus and the public must know they have to stop at a safe distance and not come racing through. If the general public is in a hurry they should use the four-lane highway that was built to avoid the slow traffic through our community.

The Garden River First Nation will continue to work diligently to ensure our community and the general public feel safe along the old highway. We will be looking at all options with respect to next steps and what we must do in our duty as a Council to protect our people.

We have been in contact with the Chiefs of Ontario and the Union of Ontario Indians to assist us in facilitating high-level meetings with the appropriate government ministers to discuss solutions to manage traffic flow that may include lighting, walking and bike paths from one end of the spectrum to the establishment of toll booths at the other end and other control measures.

It is our intent to find the most reasonable solutions that addresses safe measures to reduce and eliminate the unfortunate incidents taking place in Garden River.

Todays ‘Honoring our Angels 17 B’ is a community driven campaign to bring education and raise the awareness that safety is all of our concern and all jurisdictions must contribute to the solutions to this long-standing concern. The family and friends of the Honoring our Angels 17 B will be handing out to the general public information brochures on the incidents occurred in Garden River First Nation.

‘Loss of life or injury for any family member is not an acceptable solution in any society and we as a Council and community choose to find solutions behind the behaviors, factors and distractions” stated Chief Syrette.