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As part of its ongoing plans to develop in the mineral-rich Ring of Fire region, the Ontario government has signed a community partnership agreement with Marten Falls First Nation.
The deal includes up to $39.5 million, matching the amount promised to Webequie First Nation through an agreement it signed with the province last month. The province also signed a shared prosperity agreement with the Aroland First Nation in January.
Premier Doug Ford says unlocking critical minerals in the Ring of Fire – a crescent-shaped mineral deposit in the James Bay lowlands of northwestern Ontario – “will add $22 billion to Canada’s economy and create 70,000 new jobs.”
However, the province needs to build roads to reach that reservoir, which would pass through traditional First Nations territories. These projects include:
“Right now, Marten Falls First Nation relies on air travel, which is extremely expensive to get in and out of, and many of our community members are unable to get to their appointments on small planes,” Marten Falls First Nation Chief Bruce Achneepineskum said during Thursday’s news conference at Queen’s Park.
“In fact, they are looking forward to the winter road season, when they will be able to drive at their own pace, but it shouldn’t be like that. [They] I should be out any minute.”
While Ford highlighted the importance of the project in unlocking “the enormous economic potential of the Ring Fire,” he also spoke of the benefits this would bring to the First Nation.
“We want to change their lives,” Ford said. “It’s about giving your children and grandchildren a better future.”
Less than 400 people live in Marten Falls, a remote Anishinaabe community about 400 kilometers northeast of Thunder Bay. This year marks the 20th anniversary of its current boil water advisory, which was implemented in July 2005.
Marten Falls is among dozens of remote First Nations in the region that rely on seasonal winter roads, also known as ice roads, to transport essential supplies to the community at a much lower cost than bringing them in by air.
The $39.5 million is contingent on Marten Falls submitting its environmental assessment for the community access road to the province by Feb. 20, 2026. However, the project is also subject to a federal approval process.
“Pending approvals and consultations, construction will begin in August 2026, subject to the federal government ending its duplicative impact assessments in the region,” the Ontario government’s news release from Thursday reads.
“Divide and conquer approach”
Meanwhile, many First Nations leaders in the region have expressed opposition to the province’s development plans in the Ring of Fire, citing concerns about a lack of consultation with the government and the implications of recent legislation that aims to fast-track projects, such as Bill 5 and the One Project, One Process (1P1P) Framework.
“When First Nations are paid to access their homelands, their territories, where they are given something… for you to take something, governments have been doing that for hundreds of years,” NDP MPP Sol Mamakwa for Kiiwetinoong said during a news conference last month in response to the 1P1P approach.
By signing funding agreements with some First Nations and not others, Mamakwa said the government is fracturing relationships between communities to achieve its development goals with less opposition.
“The divide and conquer approach continues to this day,” Mamakwa said.
When asked about his consultations with First Nations who oppose the road projects, Ford said: “I want every community involved; even if it doesn’t affect them, I want everyone to be a part of it. I want to change their lives.”
When you pay First Nations to access their homelands, their territories, when you give them something… to take something, governments have been doing it for hundreds of years.– Kiiwetinoong NDP MPP Sol Mamakwa
An hour before Ford’s press conference with Marten Falls, Mamakwa held his own media event with leaders from Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI) and Wapekeka First Nation, as well as the Wildlands League, a non-profit environmental conservation organization.
About 20 years ago, KI and Wapekeka passed their own laws to declare three million hectares of their territories as permanently protected from development, or “set aside” from mining rights.
These lands, called Anishininew Aki, include the KI Set-Aside Area and the Fawn River Indigenous Protected Area, which cover an area 48 times the size of the city of Toronto.
Now, First Nations are “calling on Ontario to reciprocate and work within Ontario laws to fully and permanently protect [these lands]”said Anna Baggio, conservation director for the Wildlands League.
“We need Ontario to be there so that in the future these [withdrawal] The lands are secured, secured in a way that there will be no unrest until we feel in that region where we are ready for anything. [development] There are opportunities ahead,” KI boss Donny Morris said.
Morris expressed concern that roads into the Ring of Fire put at risk caribou populations, which his community depends on as a primary source of food.
However, he said he supports Marten Falls and Webequie in choosing what is best for their people. “They can decide whether this will benefit their communities in the long term,” he said.
As for Mamakwa, he reaffirmed the importance of the province fulfilling its duty to consult with First Nations and respect their free, prior and informed consent.
“When a First Nation comes here, when leaders come here, you know they want to have dialogue, they want to work with this government,” Mamakwa said. “I think it is an opportunity to be able to do it in a very diplomatic way.
“KI leadership has shown Ontario that they know how far they are willing to go to protect their home countries, but also to protect their sovereignty.”
