EDITOR’S NOTE: This article originally appeared on The Trillium, a Village Media website devoted to covering provincial politics at Queen’s Park.
Nine First Nations in Ontario are launching a Charter challenge to try to "kill Bills 5 and C-5," the new provincial and federal laws that aim to speed up major projects by exempting them from existing laws.
The First Nations are asking the court to overturn both bills on the basis of Charter Sections 7 (the right to life, liberty, and security of the person) and 15 (the right to legal equality).
"Both pieces of legislation have imposed severe psychological stress and serious adverse impacts on Indigenous peoples," the First Nations argue in a July 14 application to Ontario's Superior Court of Justice.
The bills "add to and exacerbate the ongoing trauma of decades of colonialism, impoverishment, massive scale development and pollution of their lands that has taken place over their objections," the application states.
The applicants are seeking an injunction to prevent Ontario and Canada from declaring any "special economic zones" or "national interest projects" — the two legal terms that would apply to projects or regions to be exempted from many existing laws under each legislation — either permanently or while the court case is ongoing.
They are also looking for $100 million in damages from Ontario and Canada to go toward "repairing the damage to reconciliation."
The nine nations behind the lawsuit are the Alderville, Aroland, Attawapiskat, Fort Albany, Ginoogaming, and Wabauskang First Nations, the Apitipi Anicinapek Nation, Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug, and Oneida Nation of the Thames.
They are represented by Indigenous-focused law firm Woodward & Company.
Complicating things is the fact that the Ford government has signed deals advancing Ring of Fire-related projects with two of the First Nations, Aroland and Ginoogaming.
Laws like 'authorizing commercial airline pilots to fly drunk'
Premier Doug Ford's and Prime Minister Mark Carney's governments passed Bill 5 and Bill C-5, respectively, last month amid protests from Indigenous and environmental advocates. On Tuesday, the First Nations referred to them as "megadevelopment" and "megaprojects" laws.
Legal experts say Ontario's bill is the far broader of the two, and may be unconstitutional.
Part of Ontario's bill enacts the Special Economic Zones Act, which allows cabinet to designate any area of the province as a special economic zone and designate trusted projects and project proponents within it. Then, cabinet can waive or amend requirements of any provincial or local laws that would otherwise apply to them.
Bill C-5 similarly allows Ottawa to waive federal regulatory requirements that pertain to projects it designates as being in the national interest. But unlike the Ontario bill, it outlines the purpose of the legislation and criteria for project selection, and includes a schedule of which federal laws it can disapply.
Governments have been tight-lipped about which laws and regulations projects could see exemptions for. The First Nations argue the list could include environmental assessments, water-taking permits, endangered species protections, cultural heritage assessments and more.
Both governments have said the duty to consult with First Nations will not be eroded. The promise is "a smoke and mirrors trick," the challenge argues, since the laws themselves allow for exemptions from the checks and balances that would otherwise engage First Nations.
"It is like a law that authorizes what should be in fact prohibited, such as authorizing commercial airline pilots to fly drunk, without knowing the flight path, and without having to engage with air traffic control," the application states.
It's not the first time Ford has courted controversy with Indigenous groups. Last month, he derided First Nations for "coming hat in hand all the time to the government," a comment for which he apologized the next day.
Ford has said he plans to designate the Ring of Fire mining area a special economic zone "as quickly as possible." Several First Nations are in and around the area, or require infrastructure to be built in their communities to allow access to the region.
“We will continue to build consensus with First Nations on shared priorities including legacy infrastructure, all-season roads, and resource development, that support long-term prosperity," Ford's spokesperson, Hannah Jensen, said in a statement.
"We have begun productive conversations with First Nations who share our vision of unlocking economic opportunity and critical infrastructure in their community and will continue these consultations throughout the summer. These consultations will shape the regulations and criteria for new special economic zones and Indigenous-led economic zones," she said, referring to the zones the Ford government proposed after backlash to Bill 5.
'Our case is not a fight against development'
Several First Nations have said they're willing to partner with governments on projects, but not in a way that ignores their rights.
“We First Nations are not against development per se. This is not about a battle between development and not,” Oneida Nation of the Thames Chief Todd Cornelius said in a news release Tuesday. “It is about doing things recklessly and doing things right.”
The laws function "by short-circuiting the need to get critical information about human and environmental safety and impacts and without involving the very Peoples whose lands these projects would eat up,” Alderville First Nation Chief Taynar Simpson said in the release.
“Our case is not a fight against development, it is a fight against dangerous development pushed ahead by factless, thoughtless and reckless decision making from government ministers behind closed doors with little accountability," he said.
Attawapiskat First Nation Chief Sylvia Koostachin-Metatawabin noted that the Ring of Fire region is largely made up of peatlands, "a globally critical carbon sink that must stay intact if it is to counter climate change."
"If parts of it are destroyed through mining and infrastructure, this could unravel the whole thing, and that would be catastrophic," she said.
Tariffs a poor excuse: Ginoogaming chief
Ford and Carney have argued U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs mean Canada needs to be more self-reliant, partly by getting major projects done faster.
That's an "excuse," Ginoogaming First Nation Chief Sheri Taylor said, adding that the tariffs "are not likely to be around forever and may well be gone before anything can be built even on an expedited basis."
“Panicking over the short term is not a reason to sacrifice the very values Canada says it holds dear and long term viability of lands and people," she said.
Apitipi Anicinapek Nation Chief June Black said the bills "are severe setbacks in the relationship between First Peoples of this land from whom far too much has been taken already and who are trying to get some of that back."
The First Nations plan to hold a press conference at Queen's Park Wednesday morning.
—With files from Jessica Smith Cross
