EDITOR’S NOTE: This article originally appeared on The Trillium, a Village Media website devoted to covering provincial politics at Queen’s Park.
The Ford government is working on amendments to a bill that Indigenous leaders have warned will reignite the "Idle No More" movement in Ontario if it is passed.
Bill 5, the Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act, would give cabinet the power to designate an area a “special economic zone,” and then exempt selected proponents and projects from requirements under any provincial law or regulation, including bylaws of municipalities and local boards, that would otherwise apply in that zone.
Federal laws, like the Criminal Code, and Charter and treaty rights, cannot be waived, however.
The bill also proposes to speed up approvals for mining projects through a “one-window” approach, ends an environmental assessment for a controversial dump expansion in Dresden, Ont., replaces the province's Endangered Species Act with legislation that environmental groups argue offers far weaker protections, and empowers cabinet to exempt projects from archaeological assessment requirements — which Indigenous leaders have warned puts sacred sites at risk.
Indigenous leaders, environmental groups and citizens have been mobilizing against the bill, holding protests and sending hundreds of written submissions to the committee studying the bill in opposition to it.
Energy and Mines Minister Stephen Lecce, who tabled the bill, and Indigenous Affairs Minister Greg Rickford told reporters at Queen's Park on Monday afternoon that the government has begun working on amendments and is open to making more.
The deadline for amendments was set for 7 p.m. Monday evening.
Lecce said the government will "continue to work in good faith with First Nation leaders to strengthen the bill, to get it right."
"We're open to making those improvements to the bill. We already have made some, but I think there's some more work to do," he added.
Rickford said the government was reaching out to First Nations leadership that day "to give effect" to those amendments.
Moments later, however, one Indigenous leader said he wasn't impressed by the outreach.
"All of a sudden, I'm getting texts and messages from Rickford this morning, wanting to talk — and again, that's not acceptable, that is not how we should be doing business," said Nishnawbe Aski Nation Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler.
Fiddler and other leaders have called on the government to consult broadly with First Nations rights holders, not only with political leaders, on the legislation.
Chiefs of Ontario Regional Chief Abram Benedict echoed that, saying he met with Premier Doug Ford over the weekend — but his message was that the government must consult with Indigenous rights holders, not with him.
Making amendments now will not change that or satisfy the concerns over the bill, he said.
Earlier Monday, Benedict testified at the committee studying the legislation, saying that First Nations do not oppose development but are concerned that changes to archaeological assessment requirements will lead to the destruction of important sites like burial grounds, that changes to mining approvals will bypass Indigenous consultation, and that changes to endangered species protections and environmental assessments will harm First Nations' inherent responsibilities as stewards of the land.
The province is opening itself up to legal challenges in court and protests on the ground, all of which could stall the development projects the province is trying to hasten with the bill, he said.
"You can sign the agreements. You can bring forward projects that make transmission lines, create growth to communities and bring jobs and prosperity, but the second that ... our sacred grounds and traditional medicines are trampled over in the name of development, that project is now going to have its social licence revoked," he said.
He compared this to the Jobs and Growth Act of Stephen Harper's federal government, which sparked the Idle No More protest movement over a decade ago.
"Development stalled, and investment became risky, and the government proceeded in the wrong direction," he said. "We should learn from those lessons."
He wasn't the only leader to warn about a resurgence of Idle No More.
Anishinabek Nation Grand Council Chief Linda Debassige also warned that "First Nations will fight back."
"We will not stand by while our rights are ignored, our lands are confiscated, and our treaties are not upheld," she said. "Should this bill proceed in its current form, we will be Idle No More."
Likewise, NDP MPP Sol Mamakwa said he'd recently been speaking with Indigenous leaders from around Ontario about the legislation.
"What I heard was that, if the bill goes forward, as is, we are 'Idle No More,'" he said. "There will be, you know, closures, blockages of mines, roads.... That's what Idle No More is about — that's the only way they'll listen."
