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CBC
2 days ago
- Politics
- CBC
First Nations urge Governor General to delay — or even reject — Bill C-5
Social Sharing The Assembly of First Nations national chief is among a chorus of First Nations leaders urging Gov. Gen. Mary Simon to intervene in the federal government's major projects legislation being "rammed through" Parliament. "First Nations are united," said National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak. "They want prosperity, but they don't want it at the expense of our rights." Bill C-5, the One Canadian Economy Act, will likely pass in the House of Commons on Friday with support from the Conservatives. Some First Nations leaders say that shouldn't happen until Simon, the first Indigenous person appointed to the role, addresses their concerns. "She is the Crown representative and I think she should be involved," said Nishnawbe Aski Nation Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler, who represents 49 First Nations in northern Ontario. "I'm hoping she's paying attention to what's happening here so that she can think about intervening." WATCH | 'It's her responsibility to hear us': Grand chief wants Governor General to 'think about intervening' in Bill C-5's passage 2 hours ago Duration 0:38 The federal government says Bill C-5 will strengthen Canada's economy, as the country fights a trade war and tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump. The first part of the legislation aims to eliminate all remaining federal barriers to domestic free trade, which is something Prime Minister Mark Carney promised by Canada Day. The second would grant sweeping powers to the government to speed up approvals for infrastructure and energy projects deemed in the national interest. 'Not a good way to start' Woodhouse Nepinak said some First Nations fear the bill will allow the government to trample treaty rights and override environmental assessments. C-5 says the government must consult Indigenous people whose rights may be adversely affected by a fast-tracked project. But it also allows cabinet to overrule any act of Parliament for certain major projects. The AFN national chief is calling for Simon to step in, and for the bill to be split so First Nations can have more time to review the major projects section. "Things are being rammed through and that's not a good way to start a new government, a new relationship," she said. The Governor General's office told CBC News that since C-5 is still moving through Parliament, it is not yet under consideration for royal assent. "All questions on legislation in development should be directed to government," said Rideau Hall spokesperson Marilyne Guèvremont. The bill was moving through the House of Commons committee stage on Wednesday. "Proponents who don't engage with Indigenous people before bringing their projects forward for consideration under this legislation will be given a lower evaluation," Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Rebecca Alty told the House transport, infrastructure and communities committee. "We'll be looking for projects that have Indigenous support and, even better, Indigenous equity." Sol Mamakwa, NDP MPP for Kiiwetinoong in northwestern Ontario, said First Nations have heard promises before — only to see them broken. He wants Simon to refuse giving the legislation royal assent. "[Governments] think it's their land. But it's our land," said Mamakwa, member of Kingfisher Lake First Nation. "We're supposed to share the benefits." Avoiding a constitutional crisis Eric Adams, professor of law at the University of Alberta, said Simon can't intervene in legislation without triggering a constitutional crisis. But Adams said she can listen to First Nations' concerns. "She can be a conduit for conversations," he said. "She can sometimes give some quiet advice to the prime minister behind closed doors." He said that advice must be delivered without "looking like she's taking particular sides or that she's acting inappropriately in a political manner." WATCH | Can C-5 bring economic reconciliation?: What First Nations want to see before major projects bill proceeds 2 hours ago Duration 1:09 "But her office is not meant to be a turret in a castle high on the hill," Adams said. "She's meant to be available for Canadians to meet with and to consult. So she has to walk that line carefully." He said the courts are a more appropriate venue to contest C-5. "The Governor General is not the place," Adams said. Major projects bill is about 'enhancing economic opportunity': Kody Blois | Power & Politics 10 hours ago Duration 9:27 Parliamentary secretary to the prime minister Kody Blois tells Power & Politics Bill C-5, the major projects legislation the government wants to fast-track through the House of Commons by Friday, is 'not about short cuts,' will uphold Indigenous rights and will enhance 'economic opportunity for all Canadians.' The bill also contains provisions to remove domestic trade barriers. Ontario First Nations chiefs organized a demonstration on Parliament Hill Tuesday against the proposed legislation. Scott McLeod, Lake Huron regional chief of the Anishinabek Nation, is vowing more action. "I think what we're going to see from today on is a grassroots movement that they can't ignore," said McLeod. "First Nations have the ability to shut down the economy.… we're going to fight." When asked if the resistance to Bill C-5 could turn into a movement like Idle No More in 2012 — which triggered countrywide protests including road and rail blockades — McLeod said: "I believe it already is."
CTV News
5 days ago
- Politics
- CTV News
Chiefs of Ontario decry lack of consultation on Bill C-5
The Chiefs of Ontario Leadership Council at the Chiefs of Ontario Special Chiefs Assembly in Toronto on October 10, 2024. From left to right: Grand Chief Joel Abram, Association of Iroquois and Allied Indians, Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler, Nishnawbe Aski Nation, Grand Council Chief Linda Debassige, Anishinabek Nation, Chief Sherri-Lyn Hill, Six Nations of the Grand River, Chief Shelly-Moore Frappier, Temagami First Nation, Grand Chief Francis Kavanaugh, Grand Council Treaty #3, and Ontario Regional Chief Abram Benedict, Chiefs of Ontario (Supplied/Chiefs of Ontario)
Global News
05-06-2025
- Politics
- Global News
Bill 5 officially becomes law in Ontario as MPPs set to rise for summer
The lieutenant governor has granted royal assent to the Ford government's controversial mining legislation, among other bills, officially passing it into law at Queen's Park on Thursday. Just after midday, final sign-off was granted for Bill 5, or the Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act. The law will create so-called special economic zones where projects can bypass various provincial laws. The legislation has sparked a storm of backlash from First Nations leaders who are promising a summer of disruption and protests in response to a law they believe infringes on their treaty rights. As Progressive Conservative MPPs gave Bill 5 approval on its final reading Wednesday, the last legislative step, the galleries exploded with opposition, mainly from First Nations members who travelled to Toronto to watch. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'This fight is not over — we will meet you on the ground,' Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler told reporters after the bill passed third reading. 'He did not even have the guts to show up for the vote, and to me, that tells me he's a coward.' Story continues below advertisement The province has promised to consult with Indigenous leaders over the summer and not designate any areas as special economic zones until that process is complete. Indigenous leaders have said they won't co-operate. 'What an insult that is to consult us on something that's already been done,' Fiddler added, saying he would not be involved with consultations over the law the government plans to hold this summer. Others have warned that protests will take place over the summer — which could include highway blockades and protests at mines. The government also received royal assent for a number of other bills, including justice legislation that could arm special constables and a bill to clear encampments. They are also now law. Thursday is the final day of the legislative session at Queen's Park before MPPs return to their ridings for the summer. They are currently scheduled to return in the fall.
CTV News
04-06-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
‘Diplomacy ends today': First Nations warn of protests over Ontario mining law
Protesters and community members chant and wave signs, as they listen to speakers during a demonstration opposing Bill 5, outside the Ontario legislature at Queen's Park in Toronto, Monday, June 2, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston Ontario Premier Doug Ford's government has given itself the power to suspend provincial and municipal laws for chosen projects in areas it deems to have economic importance, citing the need to speed up development of mines, but First Nations warn confrontation is brewing. Known as Bill 5, the legislation sparked a firestorm of anger among First Nations communities, who say it tramples their rights and ignores their concerns. It may have passed in the legislature Wednesday, but Indigenous leaders say the fight is just beginning. 'Our diplomacy ends today,' said NDP deputy leader Sol Mamakwa, who represents the northern Ontario riding of Kiiwetinoong that is home to many First Nations and the mineral-rich Ring of Fire region. 'You cannot trample on the rights of the people that live on these homelands and get away with it.' Ford has said the bill is needed to speed up large projects, particularly mines, in the face of U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war. Jeers from dozens of First Nations members echoed in the legislature as the bill was passed into law. Ford was not there for the final vote. Nishnawbe Aski Nation Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler called the premier a 'coward.' 'This fight is not over, but we will meet you on the ground,' Fiddler said. 'He did not even have the guts to show up for the vote.' Ford was on a call with a Republican congressman during the vote, his office said. Lake Huron Regional Chief Scott McLeod said that shows where the premier's priorities lie. 'His priorities are not with the Indigenous people in this province,' he said. 'They're with business people, and he wants the resources that are in our territories. He's selling our minerals and our resources to Americans, to the world, without our permission and that is what we're not going to stand for.' The government had tried to amend the bill to explicitly include duty to consult provisions, but delay tactics at the committee stage by the Liberals meant that the Progressive Conservatives passed the legislation without that. Ford said earlier in the day that they would consult with First Nations over the summer, but that may now be in question. From now on, Fiddler said, Nishnawbe Aski Nation will not take him or his government seriously, nor will they engage with Indigenous Affairs Minister Greg Rickford. Fiddler called for his resignation. 'He is supposed to be representing Indigenous affairs for our nation, but he failed at every turn, and we will not work with him,' Fiddler said. 'We will not engage with him at all moving forward.' The legislation will create so-called 'special economic zones,' where the province could suspend laws in order to speed up projects such as mines, and the government has said the Ring of Fire would be the first such zone. Chris Moonias, the former chief of Neskantaga First Nation, suggested action will begin by preventing mining companies and others' access to their lands. 'We're going to shut down the Ring of Fire,' he said. 'Whatever that means, whatever we can do, we're going to shut it down. I promise you that.' Earlier in the day, Ford said blockades wouldn't be 'very wise.' 'You can't break the law,' Ford said. 'Simple as that. ... They need to move on or they'll be dealt with appropriately.' When asked to clarify his comments, Ford said he doesn't direct the police and any enforcement would be up to the Ontario Provincial Police or local police services. The premier wouldn't say if he would use the notwithstanding clause to save Bill 5 if it ends up being challenged and found unconstitutional in court. But he said that he would 'cross that bridge' when he comes to it. Civil liberty groups are livid at the prospect of effectively lawless zones, and unions have warned that labour laws would be under threat. The measure is part of an omnibus bill that makes a slew of other changes, including stripping protections for endangered and threatened species. Environmental groups and the Toronto Zoo have warned this will lead to extinctions. Farmers, who largely support the Progressive Conservative government, have also spoken out against the bill. The Ontario Federation of Agriculture said the broad powers 'could override vital protections for farmland and agricultural systems.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 4, 2025. Liam Casey and Allison Jones, The Canadian Press
Hamilton Spectator
30-05-2025
- Politics
- Hamilton Spectator
Idle No More 2.0 will be ‘fierce' if Doug Ford moves ahead with Bill 5
First Nations leaders in northern Ontario are vowing an 'Idle No More 2.0' if the province passes Bill 5, legislation designed to speed up development without clear rules on Indigenous consultation and accommodation. 'If and when this becomes law, say next week or after that, there will be fierce resistance from our side,' Nishnawbe Aski Nation Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler said on Thursday, representing the chiefs of 49 communities in the province's far north. 'I know my dear friend Anishinabek Nation Grand Council Chief Linda Debassige has said the same thing. 'This is what we're looking at: Idle No More 2.0.' Debassige referenced the 2012 movement that asserted Indigenous rights and sovereignty across Canada in response to federal omnibus legislation in a statement Anishinabek Nation issued on Tuesday. She urged Premier Doug Ford to immediately withdraw the controversial Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act, saying, 'we caution the provincial government that should Bill 5 proceed in its current form, we will be idle no more.' That statement followed two days of deputations that chiefs and grand chiefs across the province made to the Standing Committee on the Interior over the past week. All of those deputations called for the government to scrap the bill and start again with consultation, while deputations referenced the possibility of demonstrations or direct action if the bill passes. First Nations argue the series of laws that Bill 5 amends, such as the Mining Act and the Endangered Species Act, comprise a legal regime on free, prior and informed consultation and accommodation. The bill proposes new 'special economic zones' the minister can designate without size or impact limitation, that would exempt developers from following defined regulations and protocols on Indigenous engagement. 'They need to provide more details, procedures and protocols with this duty to consult,' said Nibinamik (Summer Beaver First Nation) Chief Michael Sugarhead. 'When other development comes, such as mining engagement, that we've been having recently, our rights aren't really considered.' Nibinamik is located about 100 kilometres west of the 5,000-square-kilometre Ring of Fire mineral deposit, which Ford has said he will name as the first special economic zone. Twenty years after prospectors found the deposit, Sugarhead said Ontario still refuses to recognize nearby First Nations as full partners and he's concerned this legislation will deeply impact the land while leaving future generations in poverty.'How is this going to help our community? We live in third-world conditions and it's like that because of the government,' he said. Sugarhead said the residual effects of this are poor health, poor education, and poor standards of living. 'Reconciliation is imperative in this case, to have that meaningful partnership and participation in this type of development. If it's not there, I don't think that the people of the land will give their free, prior and informed consent.' Facing mounting opposition, Progressive Conservative committee members introduced 23 amendments to Bill 5 on Wednesday, including one that made explicit the government's commitment to abide by its constitutional responsibility to consult and 'affirmation of existing Aboriginal and treaty rights.' Nibinamik's lawyer, Zachary Davis, accused the Doug Ford Conservatives of committing 'lip service' to Indigenous rights, insisting the amendment is legally empty. 'The government's just admitting what is already true,' Davis said. 'These are constitutional obligations. It provides no certainty.' Sol Mamakwa , Kiiwetinoong NDP MPP and the only First Nations member of the Legislature, called the PC's amendments 'meaningless, unserious, and worse than useless,' while he accused the government of 'placing itself above and beyond the law.' Mamakwa introduced two separate motions in committee that would have seen hearings on Bill 5 take place in Thunder Bay and other parts of northern Ontario. PC committee members defeated them both. Indigenous minister Greg Rickford said during question period on Wednesday that consultation with First Nations will begin after the bill is passed. To that end, his government will introduce, 'Indigenous-led economic zones.' Rickford said in a statement to Ricochet Media that his office intends, 'to work throughout the summer in consultation with Indigenous partners to develop regulations to create new Indigenous-led economic zones as part of Bill 5. This amendment creating a new category of zone is at the request of some First Nations who, like us, want to build projects that will unlock economic prosperity for generations.' But Fiddler says Ontario has offered no direction or definition of what such a zone designation would entail. 'The impression we're getting is that they're just making things up on the fly,' Fiddler said. 'I think it's too late in the process to try to fix this bill with any kind of amendments, including creating Indigenous-led economic zones. We don't even know what that means.' The Mushkegowuk Council is meeting in Sault Ste. Marie to discuss the bill on Thursday, including representatives of Moose Cree First Nation. On April 9, Moose Cree Chief Peter Wesley stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Ontario energy minister Stephen Lecce to announce the construction of two new hydroelectric facilities that will generate 430 megawatts in the shared traditional territory with Taykwa Tagamou Nation. By the end of May, Ontario introduced Bill 5. Wesley couldn't believe it. 'We were involved from the very initial stages of the project and to have minister Lecce acknowledge that, wow, this is the groundwork of how it should be,' he said. 'What happened? To have Bill 5 come out, and 'we'll think about adding consultation as an afterthought?' It's not going to work. A few weeks ago, we thought we were on the right path. I don't know if that's there anymore.' Moose Cree has been expressing disapproval of a prospective niobium mine 25 kilometres up the North French River since 2019. Wesley says he has voiced his community's opposition to the project in written letters to both Ford and Rickford, but has received no Cree members took the train to demonstrate in Ottawa during the 2012 Idle No More movement. Wesley believes that if Bill 5 passes, his community will be prepared to stand up once more.'There might be a lot of civil unrest by First Nations again,' he said. 'We have some very outspoken members who will not stand for the North French to be touched – and they've made their views pretty clear.'
