TORONTO – First Nations leaders made a strong case against Bill 5 at committee hearings this week, Kiiwetinoong MPP Sol Mamakwa said Friday.
“They made it very clear – this is a very wrong move on the part of the government,” Mamakwa told Newswatch.
“The government talks about its duty to consult, but they don’t understand it. They don’t understand the treaty part of it. There’s no respect for the treaty.”
Leaders from Treaty 9 First Nations spoke at a hearing of the Standing Committee on the Interior on Thursday against legislation the province’s Progressive Conservative government says is necessary to streamline resource development and make Ontario more competitive.
An “overflow crowd” for the hearing underscored the depth of opposition to Bill 5, said Mamakwa, a New Democrat whose northern riding includes many First Nations.
Nishnawbe Aski Nation Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler was among the First Nations leaders who addressed the committee Thursday afternoon.
He termed the process behind Bill 5 “an insult to our people” and the bill itself “a direct attack on” First Nations, Treaty 9 and Indigenous children.
A former NAN grand chief has likened the bill “to an assault on our land and on our people,” Fiddler told the committee on Thursday.
“Ontario is claiming they are fast-tracking this legislation and eliminating red tape to respond to tariffs and global economic instability,” Fiddler said.
“However, it is clear their goal is to fast-track development in our territories and eliminating red tape really means eliminating our rights.
“Our treaty is not red tape. Our rights are not red tape.”
Bill 5 “sends a message that Ontario values speed and industry over reconciliation, and short-term profits over long-standing relationships,” Wunnumin Lake Chief Archie Wabasse said.
He urged the government to withdraw the bill immediately and consult with First Nations.
Christopher Moonias, former chief of Neskantaga First Nation, told the committee Bill 5 takes away First Nations’ right to free, prior and informed consent under the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
If passed, the legislation will galvanize opposition and not speed the process of getting mines started, he warned.
Bill 5, the Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act, has many parts. One component would permit the province to designate certain areas, such as the mineral-rich Ring of Fire in the James Bay lowlands, as “special economic zones” where regulatory processes can be fast-tracked to get mines open sooner.
The government says that will safeguard Ontario’s critical minerals from hostile foreign actors.
“In today’s changing world, we need to be clear-eyed about the risks from those who want to exploit our resource bounty,” Energy and Mines Minister Stephen Lecce said last month during a news conference in Thunder Bay.
“That is why it is essential that Ontario is protecting our critical minerals and energy sector from getting into the wrong hands,” he said.
“Our government is taking action to secure our supply chains, from exploration to extraction, to ensure Canadian interests, jobs and sovereignty always prevail.”
Indigenous leaders say the legislation could be used to undermine treaty rights.
The bill also proposes to replace the province’s 2007 Endangered Species Act with the Species Conservation Act, 2025
The non-profit organization Environmental Defence describes those changes as “the end of most meaningful provincial protections” for endangered and threatened species in Ontario.
Final public hearings for Bill 5 are set for Monday in Queen’s Park before the bill is debated in the legislature and brought forward for third reading and possibly being passed into law.