Indigenous communities present to UN Special Rapporteur on the right to water about the threat of Ring of Fire mining
Last night we heard powerful testimony from Indigenous communities who would be affected by the Ring of Fire mining development.
Representatives from the Neskantaga and Attawapiskat nations made presentations to Pedro Arrojo-Agudo, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to water, at a gathering at Carleton University in Ottawa.
Neskantaga is just south-west of the Ring of Fire zone, while Attawapiskat is downstream of this area.
Map by Canadian Geographic.
In November 2021, CBC reported: “Premier Doug Ford’s government [wants] to lure the big automakers to produce electric vehicles in southern Ontario. A key part of that strategy involves opening up the so-called Ring of Fire mineral deposit, located more than 500 kilometres north of Thunder Bay in an area home to Indigenous people.”
The area has an abundance of the rare-earth/critical minerals touted as part of the “green energy transition” used in electric vehicle batteries and energy storage systems, including cobalt, lithium, manganese, nickel, graphite and copper.
Photo: On March 29, 2023, then-Chief-elect Chris Moonias from Neskantaga First Nation shouted “no consent” at Premier Doug Ford from the Queen’s Park provincial legislature gallery before walking out.
By December 7, 2023, CBC reported: “Mining claims staked in northern Ontario’s Ring of Fire area have risen by 30 per cent since last year, according to provincial data analyzed by the Wildlands League.”
No free, prior and informed consent
That CBC article from last year highlighted: “Surrounding First Nations say there hasn’t been proper consultation about mining projects on their territories. A number of rallies have been held at Queen’s Park in Toronto this year by members of the First Nations Land Defence Alliance, calling out the province’s free entry mining system and demanding a meeting with Premier Doug Ford.”
Significantly, the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples, José Francisco Calí Tzay, has already stated: “[Canada should] suspend large-scale mining and other business activities in the Ring of Fire region … until the free, prior and informed consent of the Indigenous Peoples affected is secured.”
“They’re going to have to run me over”
CBC has also reported: “Outgoing Chief Wayne Moonias of Neskantaga First Nation said his people are willing to risk their lives to protect their river system. But when pushed further about what this resistance may actually look like – be it lawsuits, blockades or even violence, he didn’t specify what their future action might entail.”
Moonias has also stated: “If Premier Ford wants to get on a bulldozer, if the CEO of Ring of Fire Metals wants to get on a bulldozer, they’re going to have to run me over.”
Peace Brigades International (PBI) and 100+ organizations have signed an open letter on just energy transition concerns that notes: “Mining always comes with risks of human rights and environmental abuses. …The extractive industry is the most dangerous sector for those voicing concerns… We call on world leaders to commit [to] clear protection mechanisms for human rights and environmental defenders.”
Risk of OPP violence
With the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG, now rebranded as CRU-BC) adopted as a “national best practice”, we express our concern about potential actions by the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) in response to peaceful Indigenous resistance to the Ring of Fire.
We recall that it was an Ontario Provincial Police sniper who shot and killed Ojibwa land defender Dudley George during a peaceful reoccupation of Ipperwash Provincial Park on September 6-7, 1990.
We continue to follow this.
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