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Shoal Lake 40 First Nation residents cross a bridge over a man-made channel made to support Winnipeg's water system which has cut them off from the mainland on Thursday, June 25, 2015. The Winnipeg and Manitoba governments each committed to fund a third of a proposed road from Shoal Lake 40 to highway 1 so the community can have year round access.JOHN WOODS/The Canadian Press
A departing Conservative MP says the federal government has committed to building a road to a remote aboriginal community along the Manitoba-Ontario boundary.
The Manitoba government and Winnipeg city hall have already committed to building a road to Shoal Lake 40 First Nation, but the federal government has so far refused.
Joy Smith, a Conservative who is not seeking re-election, says she has been told Ottawa will now commit money for the road.
She says she received the message in a phone call with Natural Resources Minister Greg Rickford, who is also the member of Parliament for the Shoal Lake area.
The reserve was cut off from the mainland a century ago when an aqueduct was built to supply fresh water to Winnipeg.
The community has been under a boil-water advisory for 17 years and has no all-weather road, leaving residents to rely on a treacherous ice road in winter and an aging barge in summer.