Rudy Turtle says that the people of Grassy Narrows First Nation will never stop defending the Earth.
In the case of Bill 5 of Ontario – Proposed legislation aimed at accelerating development – says: “We are not going to go back.”
“We need to continue protecting our environment and make sure things are done correctly,” said Turtle, former Grassy Narrows chief. “Any change that is made at any time, we have to really look at the pros and cons.”
Turtle is president of the Land Defense Alliance of the first nations, a group of first nations that has been rejecting development without an indigenous consultation. This includes the wave of mining claims stationed in the northwest of Ontario using the free online entry system of the province.
Northwest Ontario is home to the Ring of Fire, a medium -shaped mineral deposit in the lowlands of James Bay that has long been observed as a critical source for the electric vehicle battery industry.
According to the Wildlands League, a non -profit conservation organization, more than 40,000 mining claims have been rethink in the fire ring area, a 60 percent jump since 2022.
According to bill 5, the fire ring could be designated as a special economic zone, where those considered by trusted defenders could carry out businesses while they are exempt from provincial or municipal laws and regulations, including requirements for permits.
The province says that the bill 5, called Protect Ontario, unleashing our Economy Law, will reduce the bureaucracy by facilitating that the developments will take off.
But dozens of leaders and defenders of the first nations throughout the province are questioning what this means when it comes to indigenous consultations and environmental protections.
“They are saying that the natives will prosper,” Turtle said. “We have never benefited from an industry that enters our area.”
“We always end [with] The short end of the stick “.
‘This is so bad’
Bill 5 draft was introduced by Ontario Energy Minister and Mines Stephen Lecce last month. In addition to the creation of special economic zones, it would revoke a series of regulations related to development and acquisition, and would change just under a dozen provincial laws.
Through this legislation, the law of endangered species would be replaced by a new species conservation law, which “introduces harder penalties, including strong fines, jail time and additional compliance tools, ensuring that there is no tolerance to bad actors,” Hannah Jensen, a spokeswoman for the mining office, told CBC News in an email.
On Thursday, the Permanent Committee of the Interior of Ontario debated bill 5 before holding the first public hearing on the legislation.
Sol Mamakwa, the NDP MPP for Kiiwetinoong and member of Kingfisher Lake First Nation, describes the bill as “a step back.”
“It’s very colonial, very oppressive,” said Mamakwa. “This is very bad.”
The provincial government says that the bill aims to respond to economic threats from the president of the United States, Donald Trump, while maintaining high environmental standards, labor laws and the duty of the province to consult with the first nations.
They are saying that the natives will prosper. We have never benefited from an industry that enters our area.– Rudy Turtle, president of the Land Defense Alliance of the first nations
“Simplified projects through our proposed special economic zones are also of common interests for the first nations: they support the inherited infrastructure and unleash additional economic opportunities by bringing road construction, hydroelectric connections, health, school, school, jobs and other services to their community,” Jensen said.
For Mamakwa, these are competitive definitions of economic reconciliation.
“When we talk about economic reconciliation, it is not the same as the rights of inherent aborigines and treaty,” he said. “The government can certainly invest everything that you want in economic reconciliation, but without respecting first of all the rights of the rights holders of the first nations, these projects cannot advance.”
The Permanent Committee received more than 130 written presentations on Bill 5, said Mamakwa, and an unprecedented number of speakers applications.
The meeting on Thursday saw presentations of numerous leaders of the first nations in the northwest, including Nishnawbe Aski Nation, Anishinabek Nation, Sandy Lake First Nation and Neskanta Fold Nation.
“Ontario states that they are quickly tracking this legislation and eliminating bureaucracy to respond to global tariffs and instability. However, it is clear that their objective is to accelerate development in our territories, and eliminate the bureaucracy really means eliminating our rights,” said the great head of the Nishnawbe Nation, Alvin Fiddler, Alvin Fiddler. In a press release issued Thursday.
A final public hearing will be held on Monday before the bill is discussed, amended and presented for a third reading, which Mamakwa expects the first week of June to happen before the legislature will increase for the summer.
Replacement of the Law on Endangered Species
Grassy narrows first nation is known for its more than 20 -year block against the clear record in its territory. Its members understand the impact of first-hand industrial pollution, after Dryden’s paper factory threw around nine tons of mercury into the English-Wabigoon rivers system in the sixties and seventies.
About 90 percent of the experience of the members of the first nation Mercury poisoning symptoms as a result.
One of Turtle’s main concerns with bill 5 is the repeal of the law of endangered species. Used the example of LOBOS DEPARTURE Yellowstone National Park in the United States and how that interrupted the entire ecosystem for decades.
“There is a real environmental impact every time the environmental chain is broken,” he said. “That is why many of our people are talking, because they know it.”
Anna Baggio, conservation director of the Wildlands League, describes the species conservation law proposed by the Government as a “shell” of the Law on Endangered Species.
It is clear that its objective is to accelerate development in our territories, and eliminating bureaucracy really means eliminating our rights.– Nishnawbe Aski’s great chief Alvin Fiddler
“They have reduced the definition of habitat to focus only on nests and den. They have eliminated the recovery and protection objectives for species. They will allow harmful activities to continue, as long as the proponents are recorded first,” he said.
However, the Provincial Government says that the legislation includes “a improved species conservation program, which will directly invest $ 20 million each year in projects to conserve and protect species in Ontario, quadrupling current funds.”
Court challenges, protests on the horizon
Several first nations in the region have already He took the Ontario government to the courts on his mining lawincluding Hierba narrows. A dozen of the first 9 nations treaty are also demanding to the province On the way in which resource management decisions are made In the region.
First three nations in Treaty 9 I have already said that they will challenge the bill 5 If you pass in the legislature.
Jason Rasevych, president of the Anishnawbe business professionals and a member of the First Nation of the 9 Community Ginoogaming Treaty, described the bill 5 an example of “political theater.”
“We knew that it was not going to be viable, that it was impossible to do without the government approaching it from an aspect of achieving free, prior and informed consent of the communities,” he said.
He anticipates that accelerated developments to bill 5 can also end in court, he said.
Meanwhile, Mamakwa says he expects the resistance of the first nations to develop “not only on the courts; it will be on earth.”
The First Nations Land Defense Alliance has led Multiple protests outside the Queen’s Park on developments without indigenous consultations.
A Citizens protest to GTA residents against bill 5 is already planned for Friday afternoon at the office of Prime Minister Doug Ford at 4 pm et.
“The protests will not stop, and I think it will become stronger,” Turtle said.
