{"id":5768,"date":"2025-07-18T15:22:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-18T15:22:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/5768\/"},"modified":"2025-07-18T15:22:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-18T15:22:09","slug":"why-first-nations-are-clashing-with-ontario-and-ottawa-over-bills-aimed-at-speeding-up-megaprojects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/5768\/","title":{"rendered":"Why First Nations are clashing with Ontario and Ottawa over bills aimed at speeding up megaprojects"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Keisha Paulmartin of Okiniwak Youth Led Movement speaks on Thursday at a protest at the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Que., where Prime Minister Mark Carney met with Indigenous chiefs the same day.Spencer Colby\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

First Nations leaders have opposed both the federal government\u2019s Bill C-5 and Ontario\u2019s Bill 5, pieces of legislation that would allow the two governments extraordinary powers to ignore existing laws \u2013 including environmental regulations \u2013 to fast-track megaprojects such as mines or pipelines.<\/p>\n

They say the two bills run roughshod over the constitutional requirement that governments consult First Nations about development on their traditional territories. A group of nine First Nations in Ontario launched a constitutional challenge this week of both Ontario\u2019s and Canada\u2019s bills. <\/p>\n

Both Prime Minister Mark Carney \u2013 who met with First Nations leaders<\/a> in Gatineau, Que., on Thursday \u2013 and Ontario Premier Doug Ford have pledged to consult Indigenous people as they implement their two bills. <\/p>\n

They say the legislation is needed to quickly boost the Canadian economy in the face of U.S. tariffs, and speed up what are often overlapping, red-tape-laden approval processes that can hamstring projects with years of delay.<\/p>\n

What would Bill 5 allow the Ontario government to do?<\/p>\n

Ontario\u2019s Bill 5, formally known as the Protect Ontario by Unleashing Our Economy Act and passed in June, allows the Ontario<\/a> government to designate \u201cspecial economic zones\u201d where it could suspend any provincial law \u2013 including environmental or labour rules and municipal bylaws \u2013 for companies or entities it labels \u201ctrusted proponents.\u201d <\/p>\n

Detailed regulations laying out how it will work, or precisely which laws could be blotted out, have not been released. The Ontario government pledged to hold consultations on those, and even allow for what it calls \u201cIndigenous-led\u201d special economic zones, over the summer.<\/p>\n

The Premier has said he aims to designate the remote northern Ring of Fire region<\/a>, where he claims reserves of critical minerals are key to Ontario\u2019s economy, as the first special economic zone \u201cas soon as possible\u201d \u2013 after consulting First Nations. While three First Nations in and near the region support plans for all-season roads to the area, others have opposed the push to mine there, and none have spoken out in favour of Bill 5. <\/p>\n

What is the federal government\u2019s Bill C-5?<\/p>\n

The focus of First Nations opposition to the federal government\u2019s Bill C-5, which also passed last month, is legislation included in the bill called the Building Canada Act, which grants sweeping authority to disregard existing laws in order to speed up projects the government deems to be in the national interest.<\/p>\n

Once a megaproject is designated as a project of national interest, it would be deemed approved from the start. It would then fall under the authority of a single central major projects office, which will include an Indigenous advisory council. <\/p>\n

As Mr. Carney stressed in remarks on Thursday to First Nations leaders, the legislation mandates consultation with Indigenous peoples during the process of determining which projects are in the national interest \u2013 and in a new process of developing one set of conditions proponents would have to meet. <\/p>\n

What is the \u2018duty to consult\u2019 First Nations?<\/p>\n

Properly called the \u201cduty to consult and accommodate\u201d First Nations, the concept has been recognized in court rulings dating back to the 1980s and affirmed by the Supreme Court of Canada in 1997. <\/p>\n

It obligates the Crown \u2013 meaning governments \u2013 to consult First Nations about activities that impact their treaty rights, which were embedded in Section 35 of the Constitution in 1982. Landmark Supreme Court of Canada rulings in the past 20 years have fleshed out and strengthened this obligation.<\/p>\n

Opinion: Instead of scrapping Indigenous consultations, let\u2019s make them better<\/a><\/p>\n

In essence, if governments want to allow the construction of a mine or another project in a First Nation\u2019s traditional territory, they must engage in meaningful consultations and accommodate Indigenous concerns about its potential effects on treaty rights, such as the preservation of hunting or fishing grounds.<\/p>\n

The duty to consult has seen many First Nations sign \u201cimpact benefit agreements\u201d with mining companies or others operating on their traditional territories, which usually involve revenue for Indigenous governments. <\/p>\n

Did Ontario or the federal government have a \u2018duty to consult\u2019 First Nations before they passed these bills?<\/p>\n

During his province\u2019s Bill 5 debate, Ontario Indigenous Affairs Minister Greg Rickford repeatedly asserted that Ontario did not, referencing a 2018 Supreme Court ruling. In that case, the Mikisew Cree First Nation argued the then-Conservative federal government had a duty to consult before bringing in contentious 2012 legislation that sparked the \u201cIdle No More\u201d protest movement. <\/p>\n

In a split decision, the top court ruled against the First Nation, concluding that parliamentary privilege means governments do not trip over their constitutional obligation if they draft legislation without consulting first. But lawyers say the Mikisew ruling does not preclude governments from choosing to consult First Nations before tabling a bill. Governments routinely consult industry or other interest groups while drafting legislation.<\/p>\n

Why do some First Nations leaders say they are entitled to \u2018free, prior and informed consent?\u2019 That sounds more extensive than a \u2018duty to consult.\u2019<\/p>\n

That phrase, routinely invoked by First Nations, comes from the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which Canada had at first avoided endorsing but fully signed onto in 2016. <\/p>\n

Federal legislation in 2021 began the gradual implementation of this new standard. But lawyers say the meaning of \u201cfree, prior and informed consent\u201d, with regard to different projects that impact First Nations rights in different ways across Canada, remains legally contested ground.<\/p>\n

Canadian courts have held that it does not amount to an absolute veto. UNDRIP itself states that it does not authorize \u201cany action which would dismember or impair, totally or in part, the territorial integrity or political unity of sovereign and independent States.\u201d <\/p>\n

Bill C-5 reveals fault lines between Ottawa and Indigenous peoples over consultation, consent<\/a><\/p>\n

In a recent decision, the Federal Court held that free, prior and informed consent did not amount to a First Nations veto but rather the right to a \u201crobust process.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ontario has not signed onto UNDRIP, or adopted it in its law, and the province has said it will abide by its duty to consult First Nations. <\/p>\n

What does the \u2018honour of the Crown\u2019 mean?<\/p>\n

This legal concept, affirmed in Supreme Court of Canada rulings, requires the Crown to act honourably in dealings with First Nations, and it is at the heart of a legal application filed in July challenging both Bill 5 and Bill C-5.<\/p>\n

The court application by nine First Nations in Ontario accuses both governments of failing to act honourably toward Indigenous people by passing legislation that would eliminate many existing opportunities for input on large projects in their traditional territories.<\/p>\n

Citing the 2018 Supreme Court of Canada\u2019s decision in Mikisew, the bands\u2019 lawyers say that ruling held that the governments\u2019 obligation to act honourably still applies to the making and passing of legislation. But it was left to future cases to work out what this means in practice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Keisha Paulmartin of Okiniwak Youth Led Movement speaks on Thursday at a protest…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5769,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,45,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-5768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-business","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5768"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5768\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}