A road map for an environmental assessment of northern Ontario’s Ring of Fire mining region was announced Monday by the federal government and 15 First Nations. But questions remain about the provincial government’s role moving forward.
The Ring of Fire, about 540 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay, is set to play a pivotal role in Ontario’s ambitions for a robust electric vehicle supply chain. A road to the region and transmission lines has been proposed to access potential mining areas for chromite, cobalt, nickel and more.
The federal and First Nation-led assessment will review the transmission lines, road and all development in the region, including future mines. The assessment will consider cumulative and interactive impacts of a developed North, and provide recommendations around mitigation and benefits.
However, the province is the political body responsible for road construction and decisions around mining claims, forestry, conservation and other development. The dynamic is setting up tensions and questions around how Queen’s Park will engage with findings from a regional assessment.
First Nations are interested in the development because it could provide their fly-in and diesel-dependent communities a lifeline of essential infrastructure and economic prosperity. But they are also aware that environmental trade-offs could be numerous.
A working group, made up of community members from the 15 First Nations and the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada, will conduct the regional assessment. Once a report is finalized, it will be submitted to the chiefs and Minister of Environment and Climate Change.
The 15 First Nations include: Aroland First Nation, Attawapiskat First Nation, Constance Lake First Nation, Eabametoong First Nation, Fort Albany First Nation, Ginoogaming First Nation, Kashechewan First Nation, Long Lake #58 First Nation, Marten Falls First Nation, Missanabie Cree First Nation, Moose Cree First Nation, Neskantaga First Nation, Nibinamik First Nation, Webequie First Nation, and Weenusk First Nation.
In the final report, each First Nation will have a chapter to address and reflect their community’s vision and priorities.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford has already dubbed the road network into the North as the “gateway” to Ontario’s looming critical mineral boom. First Nations remain concerned their voices won’t be heard in this mining rush. Several First Nations have already taken the province to court over an outdated mining claim system. And last week, under the threat of U.S. tariffs, Ontario issued a press release that suggested “accelerated access to urgently needed strategic and critical minerals (should) qualify as part of Canada’s NATO contributions.” The suggestion did not sit well with some northern Ontario First Nations.
The Matawa First Nations, which are signatories to the regional assessment, challenged Ford’s implied consent by First Nations in the region. In rhetoric that played off of Ford’s “Canada is not for sale,” statements against U.S. President Donald Trump’s 51st state suggestions, Matawa wrote in a press release that “our land is not for sale.”
Within the terms of reference for the regional assessment document, it is not yet decided whether or not Ontario will be involved.
Canada’s National Observer contacted Ontario’s ministry of Indigenous Affairs, ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks and the ministry of Mines, but did not hear back in time for publication.
Cornelius Wabasse, chief of Webequie First Nation, thinks the regional assessment will help First Nations decide what development in the region will look like.
“Even though we are looking forward to hopefully prosper… we have to do it in a way that doesn’t jeopardize our traditional territories,” Wabasse said in a phone interview with Canada’s National Observer.
Wabasse believes that no major development in the region should move forward without the assessment.
“We have to make sure our issues and concerns are heard, that our community's needs are addressed,” he added.
Anna Baggio, conservation director at the Wildlands League, hopes the regional assessment will also consider the importance of Indigenous protected areas proposed by First Nations. Ontario has not moved on Indigenous protected areas so far, and Baggio hopes a regional development plan will open a pathway to Ontario’s first Indigenous conservation efforts.
“There has to be a place set aside for species, for birds, for animals,” Wabasse said. “Once a regional assessment is done, we can decide to move forward.”
Baggio is also worried Ring of Fire development will lead to a massive carbon bomb that will far outweigh any transition to electric vehicles. It’s why Baggio hopes that carbon implications will also play a role in the forthcoming regional assessment.
“We already know that even a tiny percentage of developing the peatlands would have such a massive carbon impact that it could undo all of the gains Canada has done,” Baggio said. “This is how rich the peatlands are — is there going to be an openness to hear that?”
It’s the reason Baggio wants more than just mitigation measures broached in the development of the regional assessment.
“We need to have a better conversation about trade-offs,” Baggio said.
Canada’s National Observer contacted the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada for comment, but did not hear back in time for publication.
Wyloo metals, a mining company with stakes in the Ring of Fire, told Canada's National Observer that it supports the regional assessment.
"It aligns with our advocacy for advancing development in conjunction with community-based land use planning processes," the statement said. "Our hope is that the assessment will advance in a timely manner in accordance with the schedule set out in the approved Terms of Reference.”
Matteo Cimellaro / Canada’s National Observer / Local Journalism Initiative
This article was updated to reflect comment from mining company Wyloo.
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