Marching to prevent ‘another tar sands’

More than 1000 leaders and community members from Northern Ontario Indigenous communities were in Toronto last week to confront Premier Doug Ford and express opposition to a massive mining development.

Ford and his government are pushing forward with plans to mine the so-called Ring of Fire for metals to be used for electric vehicles and the batteries that power them.

The First Nations have joined forces along with numerous supporters to demand respect for Indigenous and environmental rights on their territories — where mining prospectors have staked thousands of new claims since the Conservative government came to power.

The Land Defence Alliance grew out of a mutual cooperation agreement between Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (Ki, or Big Trout Lake), Wapekeka, Neskantaga, Muskrat Dam, and Asubpeeschoseewagong Anishinabek (Grassy Narrows) First Nations.

The Ontario government describes the area as “one of the most promising mineral development opportunities for critical minerals” in the province. It says mining chromite, cobalt, nickel, copper, and platinum, will play a critical role in “transition to a cleaner, sustainable global economy.”

Those at the march told Ricochet that the mining development represents a colonial invasion on Indigenous lands.