The leaders were referring to a mining project the province wants to develop situated in northern Ontario’s James Bay Lowlands, about 500 kilometres from Thunder Bay.
“Premier Ford and investors hear us,” Wayne Moonias said at a press conference ahead of the question period protest. “You will not cross the Attawapiskat River without our consent. If you get on your bulldozer, our people will meet you on the land. There will be no road to the Ring of Fire without our consent.”
Ford’s government is working to build an all-season road to the Ring of Fire, which the province says has “multi-generational potential” to produce minerals in high demand amid the shift away from fossil fuels, such as nickel and copper.
Two Indigenous groups support developing the Ring of Fire. But other First Nations oppose it, including Neskantaga, insisting the area needs a stricter environmental assessment.
Ottawa is also cautious about exploiting the region, which includes peatlands that can capture carbon. Earlier this month, Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said that the attention the Ring of Fire tends to obscure other Canadian mining projects that are closer to producing critical minerals.
Without consent
Demonstrating the seriousness of the issue, dozens of members from five First Nations travelled thousands of miles to Toronto to mount the Queen’s Park protest over proposed legislation that would speed up mining processes.
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Leaders of Neskantaga, Grassy Narrows, Wapekeka, Muskrat Dam and Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug First Nations said the Ford government has granted thousands of mining claims without their consent.
Ford’s proposed changes would give the province’s mining minister more power to make decisions linked to the permits required by miners to explore deposits and build mines. They would also update the mine closure plan that miners must submit before they can begin construction, a process that takes several years.
NDP lawmaker Sol Mamakwa used Question Period to ask whether Ford would meet the First Nations and resolve the issues that they raised.
In response, Ontario’s minister of Indigenous affairs, Greg Rickford, said the government was focussed on “consensus and relationship building” when it comes to resource projects.
“We meet very regularly with indigenous leaders from across this province,” said Rickford. “Those meetings are focussed on building consensus. They are about ensuring that resources extracted from northern Ontario are distributed fairly and most importantly under the resource sharing agreements to ensure that indigenous communities are involved in the benefits.”
This is the second time in two months that the group of First Nations have raised their concerns. The five Indigenous communities are part of the First Nations Land Defence Alliance, a group formed in February.
