Treaty 9 members bring Bill 5 resistance movement on the road

KINGSTON - When Cassie Chen heard there was a panel in Kingston about Ontario’s Bill 5, she knew she had to be there. 

She wasn’t alone. Roughly 200 people filled the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts on Monday (Sept. 29) evening to hear from Indigenous land defenders, environmental advocates, and community members raising concerns about Ontario’s recently passed Bill 5.

The event was part of the four-day series, Standing for the Land: Taking on Bill 5, organized by Kingston residents with support from Treaty 9 leaders in Northern Ontario. 

The bill, passed earlier this year, allows the government to exempt regions from provincial laws and environmental protections through the creation of “special economic zones.” One proposed zone is in the Ring of Fire, a mineral-rich area in Treaty 9 territory that is home to vast peatlands and the Omushkego Cree.

For Chen, the chance to hear directly from Indigenous voices was what drew her to Monday’s panel.

“Ontario’s Bill 5 is ridiculous. It ruins environmental protection. Hearing from Indigenous voices is super important,” she said.

Chen, a Kingston resident who described herself as “just a settler,” said the legislation seems to benefit a narrow set of interests at the expense of First Nations communities.

“The bill takes away environmental protections pretty directly at the benefit of a very select number of companies. I can’t help but wonder whose friends those are, and it does that specifically at the expense of Northern Ontario and Northern Indigenous folks, which is really cruel,” she said.

Others travelled several hours to Kingston for the event. Mike Marcolongo, associate director with Environmental Defence Canada, drove in from Guelph.

“Across the board, Ontarians, Canadians and Indigenous folks are just incredibly opposed to what’s going on in terms of the delegation of power that’s occurring through these bills,” he said. 

“In the past, these decisions were addressed either in Parliament or at the legislature, and now there's a small group of elected officials that is to decide what happens with these special economic zones or projects. There's a lot of distrust about the process.”

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Marcolongo spoke about what stood out to him about the event.

“What's different here is this is very much a grassroots movement, similar to what happened with Idle No More. I think what you're seeing here is the seeds are being planted for a grassroots pushback,” he said.

While the details of how Bill 5 will be implemented are still being consulted on, Marcolongo said the event reflected growing concern.

“I think what we’re seeing is the unprecedented kind of collaboration and hopefully partnership between Indigenous communities and settlers and environmentalists of all ages that you see here tonight,” he said. 

“As those fights evolve, I think we’ll be seeing more of this partnership.”

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The duty to consult Indigenous rights and protect nature is “not red tape,” Marcolongo said.

“And Ontarians and Canadians understand that it's not red tape,” he said. 

“Running roughshod over those fundamental protections to both Indigenous communities and to nature are egregious, and Canadians and Ontarians are not going to stand for that. And this is just the beginning of the movement.”

Kingston and the Islands MPP Ted Hsu was also in attendance. He said it was important to show support for Treaty 9 leaders making the trip south.

“Even if you’re not Indigenous, if you care about fairness, you should care about Bill 5,” he said. 

“It gives the government the power to exempt companies or projects from any provincial law or regulation, and that could be your backyard in the future. So it’s important to know that the government is assuming a lot of discretionary executive power that could easily be abused in the future.”