TORONTO — Several First Nations travelled from the far reaches of northern Ontario to Queen's Park in Toronto on Thursday to have their voices heard on a proposed law that seeks to significantly speed up mining approvals in their traditional lands, only to come away exasperated with Premier Doug Ford's government.
Several dozen First Nations leaders and supporters sang and beat a large drum before entering a committee hearing for Bill 5, an omnibus bill introduced by the province as its solution to build mines faster.
With words failing, several First Nations leaders pledged to take the fight to the land should the province stay its course.
"There will be confrontation on the ground," said Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler of Nishnawbe Aski Nation after voicing concerns at a committee hearing for Bill 5.
Fiddler personally invited Ford to attend a meeting this week in Toronto with the leadership of the 49 First Nations in northern Ontario that his organization represents. Ford did not respond to Fiddler's invite, he said.
Bill 5, the Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act, would give the province the power to suspend certain provincial and municipal laws in areas it designates as so-called "special economic zones."
The province has said the Ring of Fire in northern Ontario, said to be replete with critical minerals, would be the first such designated zone, though details of what that would look like do not yet exist.
The bill has sparked anger and criticism from First Nations, environmental groups and civil liberty organizations while garnering support from the mining industry.
But some of those who live in the Ring of Fire, which is hundreds of kilometres north of Thunder Bay, Ont., and about 5,000 square kilometres in area, told the committee the bill, as drafted, attacks their treaty rights and their way of life.
"I as a land user, feel threatened. We will oppose this bill publicly in media and the courts and the boardroom, and when it comes to be on the land, we will be there," said Chris Moonias, the former chief of Neskantaga First Nation, which has had a boil-water advisory for more than 30 years and currently has a large portion of the community living in a hotel in Thunder Bay after its lone nursing station flooded in the spring melt.
Indigenous nations signed Treaty No. 9 with both the federal government and Ontario more than 100 years ago, which codifies in law the nation-to-nation relationship between First Nations and the Crown.
But the province can avoid any confrontation on the land if it listens to their concerns and visits them in their home lands, said Chief Archie Wabasse of Wunnumin Lake First Nation.
"In order to respect that (treaty), your government will have to come to see and meet my people regarding this bill," Wabasse said.
"We have our own sacred laws, natural laws we live by since time immemorial. Therefore I don’t recognize what you’re doing and it’s troubling my people -- the only way out is to meet us."
Two ministers took great pains Thursday to insist the province will fulfil its constitutional duty to consult with First Nations.
Energy and Mining Minister Stephen Lecce says the province is rewriting the law's preamble to clarify and reinforce the province’s constitutional duty to consult with Indigenous people.
"We want to demonstrate we are listening to advance the cause of economic reconciliation," Lecce said at the committee hearing. He said he consulted with Ontario Regional Chief Abram Benedict of the Chiefs of Ontario, which lobbies on behalf of all 133 First Nations in the province, to change the law's preamble.
New Democrat Sol Mamakwa, the legislature's only First Nation member, told the ministers they were not only not honouring the treaty, they were violating them.
"With the greatest of respect, I disagree with that," Rickford said.
Outside the hearing, Rickford said the bill enhances the province's duty to consult and that he wants to work with First Nations who are not yet on board to develop the Ring of Fire.
"I've lived in those communities for almost close to a decade of my life and the ones that are most proximal to the Ring of Fire have the largest infrastructure deficits," he said. "We aim to correct that."
He said he wants to help the communities that still rely on diesel for electricity to get off that. Rickford also said he wants to help get those remote First Nations better access to health care and social services.
Mamakwa tabled a motion to add one day of committee hearings in Thunder Bay, Ont., to allow those from northern Ontario to give their opinions on the bill, but the Progressive Conservatives denied it.
Several mining organizations spoke in favour of the portion of the bill that reduces government red tape by simplifying the permitting process.
One final day of committee hearings is set for Monday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 22, 2025.
Liam Casey, The Canadian Press
