Environmental groups and some First Nations oppose Ontario’s Bill 5 to boost mining

By Blair McBride The Northern Miner |Ontario Premier Doug Ford’ may see his Bill 5, aimed at boosting mining as an “opportunity of a lifetime” but First Nations hitting the pavement in protests don’t. The proposed law, the Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act 2025, aims to accelerate mining development and create First Nations-led special economic zones such as for the Ring of Fire region north of Lake Superior, but Indigenous leaders are challenging it. “Bill 5 is a direct attack on our nations, our people, our treaties, and our future generations,” Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) told a standing committee meeting at Queen’s Park, according to a release. NAN represents 49 First Nations in Ontario’s North. “Ontario is claiming they are fast-tracking this…

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