[vid]

Several of Northern Ontario's fly in reserves have mineral wealth near them and are poised to benefit from that. Surely Manitoba's north also has mineral wealth. Prospectors here are claiming that there could be a second Ring of Fire in the lowlands, maybe it is in Manitoba? These communities aren't devoid of economic potential, it just hasn't happened yet. Instead of the typical method of some resource being found and then communities springing up afterwards to take advantage of it, the fly-in reserves were established before any economy existed and now they have to figure out a way to build one.

The way they use their money is concerning, I can't really think of what can be done with that other than better education when they're younger. I read an account a while ago of a reserve that got a lump sum from oil development, and very few people spent their money wisely.

I don't think mass relocations would help as much as we think. A lot of these communities have already been relocated in the past and there is a lot of evidence that those relocations do more harm than good in many people. Better infrastructure in the north would be better, but that only comes with significant private investment. Several communities in Ontario's Far North are getting rail and road access thanks to the Ring of Fire development and the hydro corridor between Manitoba and Toronto, but most communities fall outside of both areas.