Latest news with #AnishinabekNationGrandCouncil
Hamilton Spectator
11 hours ago
- Politics
- Hamilton Spectator
Doug Ford apologizes to First Nations for ‘hat in hand' comments
Premier Doug Ford has apologized to First Nations for comments he made while pushing his controversial Bill 5 that fast-tracks mining approvals. Speaking to reporters at Queen's Park on Thursday after a two-hour meeting with chiefs from the Anishinabek Nation, which represents 39 First Nations across Ontario, Ford was contrite. 'I just want to say I sincerely apologize for my words, not only if it hurt all the chiefs in that room, but all First Nations,' the premier said. 'I speak from the heart and sometimes my words don't come out properly, which I think you've all seen over a number of years. I sincerely apologize if that has offended anyone. I've never been too proud to sit back and apologize for something that I've said or if have offended someone,' he said. Anishinabek Nation Grand Council Chief Linda Debassige, who was standing beside Ford as he spoke, accepted his apology. 'Our chiefs felt today that the apology was sincere. We are looking at today as a new day going forward,' said Debassige. 'The premier has corrected himself for the 'hat in hand' comment and has committed to be working with us as a good treaty partner and has owned what he said,' she said, 'and I'm not going to belabour that.' However, Debassige emphasized that while the chiefs appreciated the confab, the Anishinabek Nation still opposes Bill 5, the ' Protect Ontario by Unleashing Our Economy Act ,' which was passed two weeks ago. 'We remain steadfast in the rights of our nations,' she stressed, noting other matters were discussed behind closed doors. 'It would be disrespectful to our First Nations communities to suggest their only concern is Bill 5 at this time.' The meeting came one day after Ford was accused by New Democrat MPP Sol Mamakwa of making 'racist' remarks about First Nations. On Wednesday in St. Catharines, the premier said 'there's an opportunity of a lifetime for them' if minerals can be extracted more quickly from remote regions. 'We're giving them $3 billion with a B … to be equity partners, to make their communities more prosperous and wealthier and have services they've never had before,' said Ford, noting' there's going to be a point that you can't just keep coming hat in hand all the time to the government. 'You've got to be able to take care of yourselves — and when you literally have gold mines, nickel mines, every type of critical mineral that the world wants, and you're saying, 'No, no, I don't want to touch that, by the way, give me money.' Not going to happen. It's simple,' he said. In a letter Thursday to Ford, Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak accused the premier of 'pejoratively dismissing' Indigenous rights. 'Your remarks only serve to perpetuate racist stereotypes and are not acceptable in any way or circumstance,' she wrote. For his part, Mamakwa (Kiiwetinoong) said Thursday 'that's not the way we create relationships with First Nations' and had urged Ford to apologize. 'As First Nations, you know, we are not beggars,' he added. 'That type of thinking is not great … it belongs back in the 1950s.' Ford's mea culpa overshadowed a meeting that had been called as his Progressive Conservatives scrambled to fix Bill 5 in regulation following its speedy passage before the legislature rose for the summer break. Opponents charge the law breaches long-standing First Nation treaty rights as well as waters down environmental protections with of new 'special economic zones' designed to fast track project approvals. Ford's Tories argue the law — similar to the federal Bill C-5 being pushed through by Prime Minister Mark Carney's Liberals — is needed to get projects approved quickly The premier and prime minister say U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war against Canada means that approvals must be expedited.
Hamilton Spectator
20 hours ago
- Politics
- Hamilton Spectator
Doug Ford apologizes over ‘hat in hand' comment about First Nations
TORONTO - Ontario Premier Doug Ford has apologized for saying First Nations should not keep coming 'hat in hand' to the government if they say no to mining projects, a comment many First Nation leaders called racist. Ford delivered that apology in a meeting at Queen's Park Thursday to several dozen chiefs who are part of the Anishinabek Nation. 'I get pretty passionate and I just want to sincerely apologize for my words, not only is it for all the chiefs in that room, but for all First Nations,' Ford said as he spoke to Anishinabek Nation Grand Council Chief Linda Debassige after the meeting. On Wednesday, Ford said he was willing to give First Nations whatever they wanted for support to develop mines, but that came with a warning. 'There's going to be a point that you can't just keep coming hat in hand all the time to the government, you've got to be able to take care of yourselves,' Ford said. 'And when you literally have gold mines, nickel mines, every type of critical mineral that the world wants, and you're saying, 'No, no, I don't want to touch that, by the way, give me money' — not going to happen.' Ford's government recently passed into law Bill 5, which gives cabinet the power to suspend municipal and provincial laws for chosen projects through the creation of so-called special economic zones. The premier has said the first such zone would be the Ring of Fire region in northern Ontario, which is said to be rich in critical minerals. The special economic zone law is part of an omnibus bill that the government says is needed to speed up construction of large infrastructure projects, particularly mines. Shortly after the passage of the bill into law, Anishinabek Nation asked for a meeting with the premier and Ford agreed. He was joined Thursday by Indigenous Affairs Minister Greg Rickford. All said it was a positive meeting, which came after passionate protests from First Nations at Queen's Park when Bill 5 was first introduced in mid-April. 'While there are many other rights holders in this province, our chiefs felt today that the apology was sincere,' said Debassige, whose Anishinabek Nation represents 39 First Nations across the province. 'We are looking at today as a new day going forward.' The vast majority of Ontario's 133 First Nations have spoken out against Bill 5 and see the new law as yet another example of a government trampling their rights and ignoring their concerns. Many First Nations have threatened to blockade roads, railways and mines if the bill is not repealed. 'Our First Nations within the Anishinabek Nation remain opposed to Bill 5,' Debassige said. 'The opposition remains in that of which the speed of Bill 5 was entertained and this has been communicated to the premier and to various ministers. The First Nations have spoken with the premier, have proposed ideas and solutions and the premier has made certain commitments that we're not going to speak to today.' Ford did not commit to repealing the law, but he and Rickford are planning a summer of consultations with First Nations, along with Energy and Mines Minister Stephen Lecce. Other First Nation leaders were incredulous about Ford's apology. 'Being 'passionate' doesn't give you an excuse to express your racism,' said Alvin Fiddler, the Grand Chief of Nishnawbe Aski Nation, which represents 49 First Nations in northern Ontario, including those in the Ring of Fire region. 'If and when Doug Ford is ready to personally apologize to the people of Nishnawbe Aski Nation, we will consider it. If the premier is sincere with his apology, he needs to show it, not just say it.' Ford has said the new law is a tool in the fight against U.S President Donald Trump's ongoing trade war. Prime Minister Mark Carney's Liberal government has proposed legislation that is similar in many ways to Ontario's law. That, too, has prompted anger from First Nations, who gathered en masse earlier this week in Ottawa to voice their concerns. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 19, 2025.
Toronto Sun
a day ago
- Politics
- Toronto Sun
Doug Ford apologizes over 'hat in hand' comment about First Nations
Published Jun 19, 2025 • 2 minute read Premier of Ontario Doug Ford speaks to media during the First Minister's Meeting in Saskatoon on Monday, June 2, 2025. Photo by Liam Richards / THE CANADIAN PRESS Ontario Premier Doug Ford has apologized for saying First Nations should not keep coming 'hat in hand' to the government if they say no to mining projects, a comment many First Nation leaders called racist. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Ford delivered that apology in a meeting at Queen's Park to several dozen chiefs who are part of the Anishinabek Nation. Ford's government recently passed into law Bill 5, which gives cabinet the power to suspend municipal and provincial laws for chosen projects through the creation of so-called special economic zones. The premier has said the first such zone would be the Ring of Fire region in northern Ontario, which is said to be rich in critical minerals. The special economic zone law is part of an omnibus bill that the government says is needed to speed up construction of large infrastructure projects, particularly mines. Anishinabek Nation Grand Council Chief Linda Debassige says she and the 39 First Nations she represents have accepted Ford's apology. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Bill 5 has sparked outrage among First Nations across the province who see the new law as yet another example of a government trampling their rights and ignoring their concerns. Many First Nations have threatened to blockade roads, railways and mines if the bill is not repealed. On Wednesday, Ford said he is willing to give First Nations whatever they want for support to develop mines, but that came with a warning. 'When I first came into office, I told Minister (Greg) Rickford, 'Treat them well, give them what they need, whatever they want for them to prosper.' But there's going to be a point that you can't just keep coming hat in hand all the time to the government, you've got to be able to take care of yourselves,' Ford said. 'And when you literally have gold mines, nickel mines, every type of critical mineral that the world wants, and you're saying, 'No, no, I don't want to touch that, by the way, give me money' — not going to happen.' MMA NHL Canada Toronto & GTA World
Winnipeg Free Press
a day ago
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
Doug Ford apologizes over ‘hat in hand' comment about First Nations
TORONTO – Ontario Premier Doug Ford has apologized for saying First Nations should not keep coming 'hat in hand' to the government if they say no to mining projects, a comment many First Nation leaders called racist. Ford delivered that apology in a meeting at Queen's Park to several dozen chiefs who are part of the Anishinabek Nation. Ford's government recently passed into law Bill 5, which gives cabinet the power to suspend municipal and provincial laws for chosen projects through the creation of so-called special economic zones. The premier has said the first such zone would be the Ring of Fire region in northern Ontario, which is said to be rich in critical minerals. The special economic zone law is part of an omnibus bill that the government says is needed to speed up construction of large infrastructure projects, particularly mines. Anishinabek Nation Grand Council Chief Linda Debassige says she and the 39 First Nations she represents have accepted Ford's apology. Bill 5 has sparked outrage among First Nations across the province who see the new law as yet another example of a government trampling their rights and ignoring their concerns. Monday Mornings The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week. Many First Nations have threatened to blockade roads, railways and mines if the bill is not repealed. On Wednesday, Ford said he is willing to give First Nations whatever they want for support to develop mines, but that came with a warning. 'When I first came into office, I told Minister (Greg) Rickford, 'Treat them well, give them what they need, whatever they want for them to prosper.' But there's going to be a point that you can't just keep coming hat in hand all the time to the government, you've got to be able to take care of yourselves,' Ford said. 'And when you literally have gold mines, nickel mines, every type of critical mineral that the world wants, and you're saying, 'No, no, I don't want to touch that, by the way, give me money' — not going to happen.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 19, 2025.
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.'
