And then there were six. 
 
The Land Defence Alliance continued to grow on Wednesday with the addition of the Ojibways of Onigaming to the group of First Nations dedicated to pushing back against the PC government’s mining and natural resource ambitions within their traditional territories. 
 
At a meeting of the alliance in Winnipeg yesterday, Onigaming Chief Jeff Copenace signed a “mutual cooperation protocol” with the existing members: the Neskantaga, Big Trout Lake, Grassy Narrows, Wapekeka and Muskrat Dam First Nations.

One of the purposes of the alliance is to prepare to deploy support and community members in the event that one of the First Nations decides to attempt to block a natural resource project from going ahead within its territory via a blockade or some other tactic. 
 
“It is an agreement to commit to defend and protect young Anishinaabe lives, our lands and our waters,” explained Copenace, who is a member of the Ontario Liberal Party. 
 
“If you are not going to help save our lives, then you cannot have access to the lands and waters.” 
 
Although the Land Defence Alliance has existed for a few years, the addition of Onigaming means it has now doubled in size since Neskantaga joined in February of 2023, after emerging as an opponent of the Ring of Fire. Muskrat Dam joined the alliance in late November.
 
There are resource development projects within all six of the member First Nations’ territories that they argue are moving ahead without their consent, such as mining claims near Grassy Narrows and the Ring of Fire near Neskantaga. 
 
Copenace said his community is joining the alliance because its drinking water “is being threatened by corporations like First Mining Gold, who are disrespecting our Treaty Rights while being encouraged by Canada and Ontario.”
 
Cat Lake First Nation — which is not a member — has accused the province of enabling First Mining Gold to push forward with a different unwanted mining project in its territory.
 
The alliance has been very vocal about its position that such projects cannot go ahead without their communities’ consent and has staged protests both inside and outside the legislature. 
 
Back in September, the chiefs set up a table outside the Pink Palace and dared Premier Doug Ford to come out and sit down with them. Neither Ford nor Indigenous Affairs Minister Greg Rickford took them up on that offer. 
 
The chiefs argue the imposition of resource development inside their territories is contributing to social ills, including suicides, drug use and other mental health problems. Big Trout Lake, for instance, lost 11 community members between December 2023 and early January.
 
“The government has been non-existent as we face multiple crises both in and outside our communities,” said Wapekeka First Nation Chief Allen Brown. “The Ontario and federal governments only care about the resources on our land, not the lives of our people.”
 
NDP deputy leader Sol Mamakwa, who also attended the chiefs’ meeting in Winnipeg, said there is a “crisis” in northern First Nations and other communities, and they are “not being heard” at Queen’s Park.
 
“For Ontario, it’s business as usual when nations are in a state of crisis,” said Mamakwa. “Leadership across the north has been sounding the alarm on the buildup of these crises for many years, and the time for meaningful action is now.”
 
Last November, the Chiefs of Ontario passed a resolution calling on the province to impose a one-year moratorium on new mining claims, which it has seemingly ignored. 
 
Despite the mounting opposition from First Nations to its mining and resource agenda, the PCs have consistently downplayed the possibility of conflict.
 
“There’s nothing about reconciliation that involves confrontation,” said Minister Rickford in September. 
 
But Copenace said, “it is time for all First Nations leaders to take a stand now together — or we will continue to lose our young people, our lands and waters.“