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Government
The Ontario Government has consistently refused to adequately recognize the rights of Indigenous people to engage in self-determination and manage themselves and their land as they see fit.
The Ontario Government, and specifically the Ministry of Natural Resources (the department that is responsible for managing the province’s public land) has the legal and political authority to permit or deny corporations from logging on Grassy Narrows’ territory.
The Ontario Government’s refusal to recognize Grassy Narrows right to manage their land as they see fit means that the Government is in violation of basic human rights standards as defined by the United Nations. The United Nations has issued two reports criticizing Canadian governments’ treatment of First Nations peoples.
The Canadian Government is responsible for upholding Treaty 3, which the Government signed with the descendents of Grassy Narrows on October 3rd, 1873. Such treaty entitles Grassy Narrows the right to hunt and fish unimpeded. Although, corporate logging on their territory impacts Grassy Narrows right to hunt and fish unmolested, the Ontario Government consistently refuses to recognize such violations and therefore, is failing to uphold Treaty 3.
On an environmental front, the Ontario Government is responsible for the unsustainable forestry practices that are taking place in the province. Ontario is home to 58 million hectares of forest. The Boreal Forest accounts for the vast majority of Ontario’s forest lands, 49.8 million hectares of a total of 58 million hectares. Between 1951 and 1995, 6.6 million hectares of forest were harvested in Ontario by clear cutting. The rate of logging has steadily increased and today almost 200,000 hectares are logged every year.
In 2002, the practice of clear cutting in Ontario was placed under close scrutiny in a report by Ontario’s Environment Commissioner who termed it, “an experiment on a massive scale”. The Commissioner observed that it was well documented that boreal forests were undergoing significant species conversion with clear cutting one of the main causes. The commissioner warned, “the continued commitment to clear cutting large areas of the original forest seems to run a great risk that that conversion will continue.” Premier McGuinty has promised to “end the [previous government’s] policy of allowing unlimited size clear cuts in Ontario. These massive clear-cuts cause irreparable damage to our forests.” Yet, today clear cutting accounts for 90% of all the logging in Ontario.
The people of Ontario should ensure that their government stop logging endangered forests and violating the rights of First Nations people.