Ontario Premier Doug Ford speaks to media prior the First Minister’s Meeting in Saskatoon on June 2. He has promised to consult Indigenous communities on Bill 5 over the summer.Liam Richards/The Canadian Press
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is vowing to quickly use sweeping new powers that allow the government to speed up the construction of mines in his province’s northern Ring of Fire region, despite opposition from First Nations leaders who warn of protests or blockades.
Mr. Ford, speaking to reporters on Thursday, also pledged to consult Indigenous communities over the summer on the Progressive Conservative government’s legislation, known as Bill 5. It allows the government to designate “special economic zones” where it could exempt companies from any provincial law, including environmental or labour rules.
“We’re going to do it as quickly as possible … because we need to start moving on that,” the Premier said.
His government is obligated to consult both the public and First Nations on the regulations it must now draft to put Bill 5, which it passed on Wednesday, into effect. But how such talks would proceed is unclear, as First Nations leaders who are upset they were not consulted in advance have warned of a wave of protests similar to 2012’s national Idle No More movement.
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First Nation chiefs from Ontario’s North are meeting in the coming days to discuss their next steps. Plans could include “direct action,” such as protests or the blocking of mines, highways or rail lines, said Alvin Fiddler, the Grand Chief of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN), which encompasses 49 First Nations and includes those in the Ring of Fire.
“In terms of who is going to do what, or how the leadership or people will respond to this, is something that we can’t really predict,” Mr. Fiddler said in an interview on Thursday, adding that grassroots First Nation activists could take matters into their own hands.
He also said NAN will be contacting other Indigenous groups across the country, as more details emerge of the federal Liberal government’s plans to introduce similar legislation aimed at speeding up approvals for major resource or infrastructure projects. B.C. has also recently passed a bill aimed at accelerating projects that has raised First Nations concerns.
Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler of Nisknawbe Aski Nation speaks to reporters in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario on WednesdayFred Lum/The Globe and Mail
Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles warned on Thursday that Mr. Ford’s legislation could cause a “summer of chaos” and has set back relations with First Nations by decades.
The Premier has said Bill 5 is needed to speed up Ontario’s sluggish approvals for new mines, with critical minerals in the Ring of Fire region key to the province’s economic future in the face of U.S. tariffs. Mr. Ford also argues the development push will create opportunities for remote and impoverished First Nations communities.
Three First Nations in or near the region have signed onto the province’s plan to build new all-season roads to the remote area, expected to cost billions. But other First Nations in the region remain vocally opposed to new mines.
A separate part of Bill 5 streamlines mining approvals for key projects and was praised by the industry and even the opposition at Queen’s Park. But the special economic zones provisions have been condemned by the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and opposition MPPs as antidemocratic.
The bill also rewrites Ontario’s endangered species laws, giving cabinet the final say on which animals are protected, instead of scientists. And it weakens protections for archeological sites, another concern for First Nations.
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First Nations members in the public gallery react after Bill 5 was passed in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
The Premier would not say on Thursday what provincial laws he intends to erase to speed up development inside the province’s special economic zones.
He pledged that he, his Minister of Energy and Mines, Stephen Lecce, and his Indigenous Affairs Minister, Greg Rickford would consult First Nations and other Ontarians on the legislation. The two ministers said last week that no special economic zone in the Ring of Fire would be designated before consulting Indigenous leaders. Opposition leaders and some First Nations chiefs have demanded Mr. Rickford’s resignation.
The Premier insisted that many First Nations chiefs support his push to speed up mining and other projects. But an array of Indigenous leaders, including Ontario Regional Chief Abram Benedict, who heads an umbrella group of all 133 of the First Nations chiefs in the province, have spoken out against it. Mr. Ford’s office did not respond to a request for a list of Indigenous leaders who favour the bill.
On Thursday, his government shut down the Ontario legislature until Oct. 20. The move sends MPPs home having just returned in April after Mr. Ford’s party won a snap winter election he said was needed to secure a mandate to combat U.S. tariffs.
The PC government used its majority to rush through a series of bills, including Bill 5, a budget that includes money for tariff-affected businesses and changes that allow the government more discretion over judicial appointments.