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KIIWETINOONG – Premier Doug Ford’s Tories are exploiting the tariff war to sidestep the government’s duty to consult First Nations, the NDP MPP for Kiiwetinoong says.
Sol Mamakwa told Newswatch in an interview Friday that Bill 5, the Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act, is an attack on First Nations’ rights.
“They want to use the tariff war as an excuse to fast-track access to the homelands in the north … without doing the free, prior and informed consent process – you know, basically trampling on the rights of the people, the rights holders that live in these homelands,” he said.
Bill 5 would give cabinet power to create “special economic zones” in places like the Ring of Fire, where mining companies want to dig for nickel, platinum group metals and other critical minerals.
Environmental assessment and community consultation could then be abridged or fast-tracked in those economic zones to get mines opened sooner.
The Ford government wrote the bill with “no prior engagement with First Nations rights holders,” said Mamakwa, whose riding includes Treaty 9, Treaty 5 and Treaty 3 First Nations.
He said the province already, without Bill 5 being made law, “does the bare minimum of the duty to consult.”
Fast-tracking reviews for new mines would only make matters worse, he said.
The government has said it needs Bill 5 “to fight the tariff war” with the United States, he said, but it’s “a step backwards” for Indigenous rights.
If the bill passes, “they will be trampling on the rights of the people that live there (in the Ring of Fire region),” Mamakwa said.
“And when that happens, you know, communities will stand up and rise against the development.
“There’s already court cases against this government on their approach to development. But I think at some point in time the fight will be on the land.”
Earlier this month in Ontario’s legislature, Mamakwa said Bill 5 is “a reminder that colonialism – oppression – still exists in this place.”
“This bill should be called ‘Ontario First, First Nations Last,’ because we are just an afterthought,” the MPP and Kingfisher Lake First Nation member said.
The Anishnawbe Business Professional Association weighed in on the issue Friday with a news release saying Bill 5 “poses an unacceptable threat to First Nations’ inherent and treaty rights.”
The legislation “is a direct assault on the foundations of respectful partnership and shared decision-making, which are crucial for any legitimate economic development in our territories,” association president Jason Rasevych said.
In a news conference April 25 in Thunder Bay, Energy and Mines Minister Stephen Lecce said Bill 5 will safeguard Ontario’s critical minerals from hostile foreign actors by streamlining the process of turning mineral deposits into mines.
“In today’s changing world, we need to be clear-eyed about the risks from those who want to exploit our resource bounty,” Lecce said.
“That is why it is essential that Ontario is protecting our critical minerals and energy sector from getting into the wrong hands. Our government is taking action to secure our supply chains, from exploration to extraction, to ensure Canadian interests, jobs and sovereignty always prevail.”
