Road, rail and mine blockades could be on horizon over Ontario mining bill: chiefs

The Ring of Fire region, about 500 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay, is said to hold some of the world's richest deposits of chromite, nickel, copper and platinum and the province has made long-standing promises to develop and mine the area. (File)

Road, rail and mine blockades could be on the horizon, First Nations leaders said Monday, as they ratchet up pressure on the Ontario government to kill a proposed bill that seeks to speed up large mining projects in the north.

Provincial ministers, meanwhile, said they heard the outcry and will make improvements to Bill 5, but stopped short of suggesting they would eliminate it outright.

“We heard loud and clear that there’s some things that they would like to see changed about this bill,” said Indigenous Affairs Minister Greg Rickford. 

“We’ve put some amendments forward and I know we’ll be meeting with First Nations leadership as early as today to give effect to those and go from there. I’ll say to sum up that the number of chiefs that I’ve talked to think we have a lot of room to move here.”

Premier Doug Ford has agreed to sit down with Indigenous leaders to discuss the bill, Rickford added.

But ministers would not answer whether the government is prepared to delay the bill’s passage to pursue further consultation.

The proposed law has sparked anger among First Nations, environmentalists and civil liberty groups who say the bill tramples rights and guts protections for endangered species.

“First Nations youth are rising up across the province and we are here to step up to protect our lands, our languages, and assert our inherent rights,” said Hannah Sewell, co-chair of Ontario’s First Nations Young People’s Council, at Queen’s Park.

“When First Nations defend the land, we are also protecting our non-Indigenous kin — this is about all of us.”

The province is set to create so-called special economic zones that would suspend provincial and municipal laws for certain projects.

Ford has said the province intends to declare the Ring of Fire in northern Ontario one such zone. 

The region, some 450 kilometres north of Thunder Bay and more than 5,000 square kilometres in size, is said to be replete with critical minerals. One mine is currently proposed and more than 40,000 mining claims have been staked.

Three nearby First Nations have agreed to shared-prosperity agreements with the province and two of them are conducting environmental assessments on three proposed roads to get to the Ring of Fire mining site.

Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler of Nishnawbe Aski Nation, which represents 49 First Nations in northern Ontario, including those in and around the Ring of Fire, said young people are “willing to do anything” to protect the land.

“I know that they are prepared to take action, and that is something that Doug Ford needs to be aware of,” Fiddler said after question period at the provincial legislature.

And Ontario Regional Chief Abram Benedict of the Chiefs of Ontario, which represents all 133 First Nations in the province, warned of a repeat of the Idle No More movement that began in 2012 and led to countrywide protests, including road and rail blockades.

“A little over a decade ago, the government of Canada put forward an omnibus bill weakening environmental protections to speed up development,” Benedict told the committee. 

“The outcome was Idle No More, a national protest movement, and the removal of social licences from resource projects. Development stalled and investment became risky, and that government proceeded in the wrong direction. We should learn from those lessons.”

Benedict met with Ford and Rickford at the premier’s home on Thursday following a first contentious day of committee hearings about Bill 5.

Benedict said he told Ford that the legislation, as it is currently written, is unacceptable and that consultation must occur with each First Nation, not umbrella organizations like his. 

“It infringes upon the rights, the jurisdiction and sovereignty of the communities in this region and that was essentially what the message was communicated to the premier,” he said.

First Nation chiefs visited Queen’s Park again on Monday to tell the committee studying the bill that it does not respect the province’s duty to consult and other obligations as laid out in Treaty No. 9.

Dozens of First Nation leaders and community members came to Queen’s Park last week from the far reaches of northern Ontario. They set up drums in the middle of the legislature as a procession of chiefs told the government they want the bill struck down.

Fiddler agreed on Monday, saying he is not interested in amendments.

“I think we’re beyond amendments, we’re beyond tinkering with this bill. They have to withdraw it, and we start over again,” he said.

Despite his minister’s pledge to listen to outraged First Nations, Ford said there was lots of support for the bill.

“There’s opposition with the radical environmentalists, not everyone else,” he said. 

“People want jobs, they want to create wealth and opportunity and prosperity.”

New Democrat Sol Mamakwa, the legislature’s only First Nation member, said he’s heard about potential blockades of mines and roads from those in his riding of Kiiwetinoong, which includes the Ring of Fire region.

“That’s the only way they’ll listen and right now, they’re not listening,” Mamakwa said.

The NDP put forth a motion Monday seeking to hold an additional day of committee hearings on the bill in Thunder Bay, a repeat of Mamakwa’s motion last week.

The Progressive Conservatives voted against it.

The bill is set for line-by-line consideration as it moves closer to becoming law.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 26, 2025.

Liam Casey, The Canadian Press