Opposing Ontario’s outbox
Ontario’s Indigenous affairs minister says the province is meeting its duty to consult First Nations before regulating their territory. Some First Nations leaders say Ontario’s emails don’t count.
Although Ramona Sutherland says the province has approved claims to mine land near her territory, she says Ontario never sent anyone on the five-and-a-half hour drive from Thunder Bay out to Constance Lake First Nation to ask for her community’s consent.
She’s not alone. Leadership from at least fourteen northern Ontario First Nations told Queen’s Park the province has not adequately consulted them before using the land. Still, Indigenous affairs minister Greg Rickford told the legislature he takes his duty to consult First Nations seriously. Sutherland, chief of Constance Lake First Nation, says this disconnect comes from the way Ontario chooses to communicate with First Nations — over email.
“We are bombarded with emails saying (someone) is in your territory, another claim will come in and say (someone) is in your territory,” Sutherland said in an interview. “There's a lot of room for coming into our territory without even acknowledging the First Nation in that area.”
This spring, other First Nations have told the provincial legislature email communication is not enough. When he arrived in Queen’s Park last month, alongside members of four other First Nations, Neskantaga First Nation Chief Christopher Moonias told reporters that settler governments need to consult Indigenous communities in person, on their land.
“There hasn’t been a single government official that’s stepped on our land,” Christopher said. “Consultation happens in the community, in our language.”
Later that day, Rickford told the provincial legislature that Ontario will meet its duty to consult First Nations. A spokesperson for Rickford repeated this in an email.
Still, some First Nations leaders were not satisfied. Less than a month later, Sutherland and leadership from nine other First Nations launched a lawsuit against Ontario and Canada over its treaty process and failure to consult First Nations. For the second time this spring, First Nations leaders told Ontario its consultation process was flawed.
One issue, Sutherland says, is that the people who allow mining and logging companies to stake claims near her territory have not visited her community. She said she was frustrated that the people making decisions about the land might not even know the land.
Constance Lake First Nation is nearly 1,000 kilometres northwest of Ontario’s legislature in Toronto. It is nearly 800 kilometres northwest of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry in Parry Sound. Not once, Sutherland said, has a proponent of a mining company or a representative of Ontario driven up to Constance Lake to consult her community. Instead, Sutherland said, Ontario expects consultation to happen over email, with the click of a “send” button.
“Ontario gives us these claims with a simple button, without ever even considering the land — what's on the land, what First Nation is involved, what First Nation activity (happens) on the land,” Sutherland said. “They're far removed from our territory.”
Once again, that day in the legislature, Rickord said he is committed to consulting Indigenous communities. He referenced section 35 of the 1982 Constitution Act, which affirms the treaty rights of the Indigenous peoples.
Some First Nations leaders disagree. Peter Moonias, an elder and former chief of Neskantaga First Nation, told me Ontario’s consultation process is flawed. The process is not accessible to people in his community.
“We're not against what's happening, and development. We're not against people that are wanting jobs in Ontario,” Moonias said. “But we have to be considered as people that exist on that land.”
Here’s what I’m working on this week:
Here’s what I’m tuned into:
Reckless Ben on Youtube: I overthrew a restaurant that was run by a cult
Rianna Lim and Carl Meyer for the Investigative Journalism Foundation: Thirty federal politicians each disclosed over $10,000 in oil and gas investments
Radiolab: Corpse Demon
Pippa Norman for the Globe and Mail: Local lettuce: Amid imported food shortages, greenhouse farming takes off in Canada
Mark Ramzy for the National Post: Government keeps remote work rules out of public service collective agreement