First Nation leader says Bill 5 will spark protests, blockade of Hwy. 400
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Hamilton Spectator
5 days ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Ontario Green Party leader drumming up support for foodbelt bill over the summer
The summer BBQ circuit finds Guelph MPP and Green Party of Ontario Leader Mike Schreiner out drumming up support for a bill that would protect farmland. Schreiner and MPP Bobbi Ann Brady, the independent MPP for Haldimand-Norfolk, introduced a private member's bill at Queen's Park in May. The bill looks to establish a committee led by members of the industry to develop a 'foodbelt' to protect farmland in Ontario. The committee would consist of farmers, farm organizations, and experts in soil, land planning and agriculture. Schreiner told The Observer that the 319 acres of farmland that are lost in the province every day were a major 'motivation behind this bill.' 'That's the equivalent of nine family farms every week. When we think of the threats to our economy and our sovereignty currently, I think it's just essential to protect the land that feeds us in terms of maintaining our food sovereignty and security – the land that is the foundation of the $50-billion food and farming economy that employs over 875,000 people in Ontario, which is the largest employer in the province.' While Ontario is large, covering more than 892,000 square kilometres, just five per cent of it is usable farmland, and only 0.1 per cent is prime farmland, he noted. 'I think it's just essential that we have a plan to protect it, especially because the rate of farmland loss is been going up so rapidly in recent years.' This bill comes on the heels of the controversial Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act (Bill 5), which gave Premier Doug Ford and his cabinet members the ability to assign special economic zones. This would essentially allow developers and their organization on this site the ability to bypass other provincial and municipal rules. Though Schreiner said that he and Brady have been working on this type of farm protection well before the controversial Bill 5, the introduction of the bill, 'accelerated our desire to get this bill introduced and through first reading.' 'I think farmland protection needs to be a part of the conversation around Bill five, because there's nothing in Bill 5 that would prevent the premier's cabinet from declaring substantial acreage of farmland a special economic zone,' added Schreiner. Since its initial proposal, the bill has received support from all parties and all different parts of the political spectrum, he said He has also spoken to Minister of Agriculture Trevor Jones and Rob Flack, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, as well. 'I've had certain members of the Conservative caucus reach out to me, especially those who represent ridings where farming is a big part of the local economy.' With the legislature on summer break, Schreiner will be travelling around Ontario talking about this bill and other issues. He has met many people who have expressed support for this new bill and also seen support from environmental groups and the province's agriculture organizations. All of this support and discourse about the Protect Our Food Act might come from the fact that this bill touches on many different political perspectives all at once. Schreiner noted that it specifically comes from three different perspectives. The first of those is the economy, which he notes is the agri-food sector, the largest employer in the province. 'I think people recognize the economic implications,' added Schreiner. The second perspective is environmental, and it plays a very important role in protecting the environment. The third important perspective that the bill follows is social justice and food sovereignty. 'There are issues around food security and hunger, social justice, where people are saying, 'We want people in Ontario to be able to have access to local food,'' noted Schreiner. 'Ontario's 49,000 plus farmers produce over 200 different crops and livestock, which is one of the most diverse availabilities of food anywhere in the world.' Given the major weather incidents and conflicts around the globe, protecting the places that produce food is particularly important just now, he stressed. 'That has real economic and financial implications for people's lives and their ability to be able to afford to feed themselves and their families. So protecting agricultural land in Ontario ensures that we have secure access to affordable, healthy, local food,' he added. 'I think it is critically important because it touches a lot of people's lives in different ways. And I think that's one of the reasons you've seen support for the bill.' Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
Hamilton Spectator
6 days ago
- Hamilton Spectator
First Nations protest walk continuing trek to Queen's Park
TEMISKAMING SHORES – Just over two weeks ago, a small group of First Nations youth protesters set out on foot from Timmins for Queen's Park. They're calling for the repeal of provincial and federal legislation aimed at speeding development of major infrastructure projects in response to the trade dispute with the U.S. Anger over Bill 5 and Bill C-5 – Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act and the One Canadian Economy legislation, which includes the Building Canada Act– spurred Tristan Ashishkeesh, a founder of the walk, to take action. The legislation and governments' responses echo previous governments' approaches to First Nations' concerns, said Ashishkeesh in an interview on the side of Highway 11 last week. 'We're getting pushed, and no one's really considering what we say,' said the 29-year-old from Attawapiskat First Nation as traffic sped past. 'What we've seen is not proper consultation.' He doubted assurances from federal and provincial leaders that First Nations will be equal partners and share in the economic benefits flowing from projects. First Nations, he said, 'are not against development,' he said. But while many Indigenous people are working in resource industries, he said they're seldom in management positions. Industries must realize they need to hear the opinions of grassroots community members, he said. He's calling for a meeting of treaty and hereditary chiefs with the prime minister, governor general, premiers, and elected First Nations chiefs and political organizations. Living conditions in many First Nations, including boil-water advisories and housing shortages, should first be addressed under the original treaties, he said. 'You have third world communities living within Canada, so once these problems are fixed, yes, let's talk about development, let's talk about mining. 'But let's do it in a way where our Indigenous people are still going to be able to keep their livelihood from the land, but also Canadians.' He said many non-Indigenous men and women hunt, fish and hike on the land. 'What's going to happen if this is all gone?' He acknowledged that opposition to the legislation has come from environmentalists and other sectors. He encouraged mayors to stand with the protesters, 'because your concerns are most likely in line with ours, as grassroots people.' He said the walk, which began July 15, has seen support from both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. There's also been some negativity, but he said protest walkers have responded with kindness. They've been joined at times by community members, who sometimes take on the five-kilometre stretches that walkers are doing in rotation. The protest walkers are providing regular updates on their Facebook page Mahmo Inninuwuk Wiibuseego-stamok. Its name is from a James Bay Cree phrase meaning 'uniting the people to stand together,' explained Xavier Kataquapit, a writer and columnist from Attawapiskat First Nation, in a news release. The walkers reached North Bay on the weekend. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
Hamilton Spectator
27-07-2025
- Hamilton Spectator
Why Doug Ford's controversial law to fast-track development is focused on the Ring of Fire
The story In the beginning, when it was still called Kawana 'bi 'kag, no one imagined that the 5,000 square kilometres near James Bay might one day save Canada from economic warfare launched by an American president named Donald Trump. There's nothing like an existential crisis, it seems, to focus a country's attention on unearthing billions of dollars worth of critical minerals. Amid First Nations protests and legal challenges, Premier Doug Ford passed Bill 5, creating sweeping new powers to fast-track development and in the north, that means brushing past years of delay on the land now known as the Ring of Fire. It holds what the world craves: nickel, chromite (for chromium), cobalt and more, all needed for global security or green energy. And all often in short supply, threatening economic devastation from supply chain disruption. Ford wants jobs for Ontarians. Prime Minister Mark Carney needs economic prosperity independent of America and its mercurial president. Now, nearly 20 years after the minerals were first discovered, the Ring of Fire may be entering its prime time. Although, as First Nations leaders recently observed, Trump will be out of office long before the mining roads are built, so why the 'unconstitutional' rush? Here is an explainer on the remote north, a place of conundrums. The earth You may ask, what makes these minerals critical? In short, the digital and green economies of the future — including massive new infrastructure needed to support artificial intelligence — will not exist without them. 'There is no energy transition without critical minerals: no batteries, no electric cars, no wind turbines and no solar panels,' a federal minerals strategy once said. Depending on market fluctuations, minerals hold immense value. The Democratic Republic of Congo provides 70 per cent of the world's cobalt. Indonesia supplies 40 per cent of nickel. And China is the largest processor of minerals, a dominance that has, on occasion, led to disruptive trade practices and price swings, according to a recent Public Policy Forum report. Deposits locked under the Ring of Fire include: Nickel: It is used in the production of stainless steel and is increasingly valued in advanced technologies, particularly in batteries for electric vehicles. Cobalt: Considered essential for the production of military equipment, it is used to produce superalloys used to make jet engines, missiles and submarines. Copper: Used in electric vehicles, wind turbines, solar power panels, and battery energy storage systems, it is also considered essential for the creation of data centres that will support artificial intelligence. Chromite: This is the ore from which chromium is extracted. Chromium is essential to the manufacture of stainless steel. Platinum: A metal that plays a vital role in autocatalysts, which reduce greenhouse gas emissions from vehicle tailpipes. Palladium: A 'platinum group element,' it is used in electronics and in vehicle emission reductions. The timeline As modern mining lore has it, speculators in the Hudson Bay lowlands discovered its chromite in 2007. Depending on the loquaciousness of the storyteller, one or several prospectors were Johnny Cash fans and so inspired, quickly named the lands around their discovery the Ring of Fire, launching years of environmental assessments, ownership changes and new mining claims. The Ring of Fire was included in Ontario's 2010 speech from the throne and in the ensuing years, premiers Dalton McGuinty and Kathleen Wynne raved over its potential, although Sudbury already mines critical minerals. And in 2018, along came Doug Ford. Running for the premier's job, he promised to build roads to the untouched minerals, which were in a distant region of the province accessible only by airplanes or (melting) ice highways. 'If I have to hop on a bulldozer myself, we're going to start building roads to the Ring of Fire,' Ford tweeted. This did not impress the First Nations who make Kawana 'bi 'kag their home. Today, seven years and two elections later, with no roads built, Trump's antics inspired new laws rushed through the Ontario legislature and the House of Commons: Ford's Bill 5, the 'Protect Ontario by Unleashing the Economy Act' and Carney's Bill C-5, the 'One Canadian Economy Act.' Before Carney met with First Nations leaders on July 17, he promised 'Indigenous equity and full participation' in Canada's new economy. When the meeting ended, the chiefs' were not convinced. The constitutionality of both laws faces a legal challenge by nine First Nations chiefs, who called Ontario's law a massive overreach that gives the government unlimited development powers across the province. As one said, Ontarians should be worried. The request for an injunction, the chiefs' lawyer said, will likely be heard within a year. The miners In the world of prospecting, ownership is known to change hands. Australia-based Wyloo acquired Noront in 2022 and with it, the Ring of Fire's 'Eagle's Nest' project. While Juno Corp. appears to have the most mining claims in the region, Wyloo says its development progress is the most advanced, in terms of passing government hurdles. Wyloo's footprint, its corporate documents say, will cover just one square kilometre. Instead of an open pit, Eagle's Nest will be vertical, plunging 1,600 metres into the ground, with below-surface space to store tailings, the leftover materials. The company's current projections say it will annually produce 15,000 tonnes of nickel, 6,000 tonnes of copper, 70,000 ounces of palladium, 22,000 ounces of platinum and 340 tonnes of cobalt. And as for the fragile peatlands across the region? Wyloo's mine, its document says, will mainly be built on 'uplands' and not the low-lying peatlands. But there is a different threat: road construction. The ecosystem The Ring of Fire is rich with watery peatlands, a fragile, living entity of decaying plant matter that traps carbon equal to many decades of greenhouse gas emissions. And yet the earth here also holds minerals needed to build the energy-saving solar panels and electric cars of the future. This is an environmental predicament. If new mining roads disturb the peatlands by as little as three per cent, Wildlands League's Anna Baggio says data shows that the equivalent of 62 million tonnes of carbon dioxide would be released. Climate change is already threatening peatlands, from nearby wildfires to melting permafrost. So it was not surprising to see 'peatland' cited 113 times in a 2025 draft environmental assessment for a proposal by Marten Falls First Nations to build and maintain an all-season access road. Marten Falls chief says the road would connect the remote community to health supports and economic opportunities. A separate proposal would link a series of new roads to the Ring of Fire mines. Last week, Marten Falls First Nation said it held a joint ceremony with Webequie First Nation, (which is has filed a proposal to build another road) and together, took down a ceremonial teepee erected last year. It symbolized, the Marten Falls news release said, the 'joint and mutually respectful process required between the First Nations and development proponents.' First Nation communities on the Treaty 9 land have expressed concern about environmental risk, noting the age-old relationship between peatlands, water systems and wildlife. But much like Marten Falls, many also say they want development — and a seat at the decision-makers' table. Ford's Bill 5, some say, killed the opportunity for government discussions, forcing protests or legal action. Eabametoong Chief Solomon Atlookan leads one of many First Nations communities in the region. In June, Atlookan wrote a letter to Ford and Carney, warning their new laws could leave governments tied up in court challenges or worse, create dangerous confrontations on the land. 'Cranking up the legislative bulldozer,' Atlookan wrote, 'will not yield positive outcomes.'
