Image

UPDATED: Aamjiwnaag orders River Road closed

April 10, 2020

Road closed from Marlborough Ave to Suncor

Alex Kurial/Local Journalism Initiative

The Aamjiwnaang First Nation is closing part of the St. Clair Parkway in an effort to reduce traffic in the community and slow the spread of COVID-19.

Aamjiwnaang Band Council ordered the closure of St. Clair Parkway with the exception of local residents and emergency services only until further notice. The road will be closed from Marlborough Avenue to the Suncor gate. All traffic will be diverted to Highway 40.

River Road is a county road, Sarnia and Lambton County agreed to the road closure. The presence of several businesses along the road factored in, as these locations are at higher risk for transfer of the virus. 

Sarnia Police says worker access to plants and facilities along the road will not be restricted, including Suncor’s Sarnia Refinery.

While they are not physically manning the stations, Sarnia Police said that they will be the ones contacted if the closure is not adhered to. 

“If something were to escalate where people were causing issues and not abiding by their request, [Aamjiwnaang] would contact the Sarnia Police for assistance or enforcement,” says Cst. John Sottosanti, media officer with the Sarnia Police. 

St. Clair Mayor Steve Arnold, whose residents use the road as a main artery to and from Sarnia, says there will be an impact, but important services will remain unaffected.

“Of course we’re impacted anytime you close off a main road like that,” says Arnold. “I’ve had a number of people who have called me about it.”

“They said [Aamjiwnaang] that they would make sure any emergency vehicles that had to get through would have the right of way and go wherever they need to be, whether it’s a fire truck or ambulance or police,” says Arnold. “I distributed that out to council and senior staff, and nobody had any major issues with it as long as the emergency vehicles were able to go.”

Arnold credited Aamjiwnaang First Nations Chief Chris Plain for contacting him in advance of the decision. “Chief Plain sent a note to myself and the city and a few other folks and let us know what was going on. So it wasn’t something that was a major surprise, and we could send that off to our public works folks and the emergency services.”

Arnold noted that the Lasalle Line remains fully open, a main truck route for the St. Clair area.

Waterfront access will also be limited to Aamjiwnaang citizens until further notice.

The local government has also ordered all construction within the community stopped until further notice.

Share This

Image
Front Page

Bluewater Health shouldn’t have been collecting SINs says privacy commissioner report

June 18, 2025

Heather Wright/The Independent Bluewater Health had no legal reason to collect Social Insurance Numbers from its patients. That information is contained in a just released report by Francisco Woo, an investigator in the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner. Woo’s 35-page report examines whether Bluewater Health, its IT provider TransForm Shared Services and the four other regional hospitals affected

Read More

Image
Front Page

Bluewater Health should have been clear about ‘hostile encryption and its impact’ after cyber attack

June 18, 2025

Information and Privacy Commission report says patient data lock down by hackers ‘overshadows the scale of data’ stolen and sold on the dark web Heather Wright/The Independent Ontario’s Information Privacy Commissioner says Bluewater Health should have notified every single patient whose data was locked down, but not released, that their information was affected during the October 2023 cyber hack .

Read More

Image
Front Page

Conservation foundation closes Greenhill Garden

June 18, 2025

Heather Wright/The Independent Overwhelmed by expenses, lack of workers, theft of equipment and homelessness encampments, the St. Clair Region Conservation Foundation has closed a Wilkesport landmark. Greenhill Gardens – a once privately-owned oasis in rural St. Clair Township – closed Monday. The gardens were cultivated by Joy Robson for years. She and her husband, Bill, allowed people to come and

Read More

Image
Front Page

St. Clair gas power plant plans major expansion

June 17, 2025

Heather Wright/The Independent Invenergy wants to power up the St. Clair Energy Centre across from NOVA Chemicals on Petrolia Line. Officials say they’re planning to build a new turbine at the site, increasing the power generation by about 50 per cent. The provincial government says Ontario will need about 75 per cent more power by 2050 so it’s encouraging more

Read More