{"id":99583,"date":"2025-11-24T16:49:56","date_gmt":"2025-11-24T21:49:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=99583"},"modified":"2025-11-24T16:49:56","modified_gmt":"2025-11-24T21:49:56","slug":"ontario-first-nation-prepared-to-block-highway-to-stop-mining-near-drinking-water-source","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/24\/ontario-first-nation-prepared-to-block-highway-to-stop-mining-near-drinking-water-source\/","title":{"rendered":"Ontario First Nation prepared to block highway to stop mining near drinking water source"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Jon Thompson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Ricochet A northwestern Ontario First Nation that\u2019s struggling through a decade-long social crisis has directed its leaders to blockade the highway if the province grants mineral extraction permits near its water source. Onigaming First Nation Chief Jeff Copenace says elders have instructed him to notify a partnership between First Mining Gold and New Gold that they do not consent to ore extraction or its transportation through the territory. Under pressure to respond to demands to meet by November 21, and facing three funerals over the past two weeks, Copenace issued Ontario\u2019s Ministry of Mines the following statement: \u201cIf this permit is approved without our consultation and without our free, prior, informed consent, our Elders in Onigaming have asked Onigaming leadership to consider a… <\/p>\n

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By Jon Thompson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Ricochet A northwestern Ontario First Nation that\u2019s struggling through a decade-long social crisis has directed its leaders to blockade the highway if the province grants mineral extraction permits near its water source. Onigaming First Nation Chief Jeff Copenace says elders have instructed him to notify a partnership between First Mining Gold and New Gold that they do not consent to ore extraction or its transportation through the territory. Under pressure to respond to demands to meet by November 21, and facing three funerals over the past two weeks, Copenace issued Ontario\u2019s Ministry of Mines the following statement: \u201cIf this permit is approved without our consultation and without our free, prior, informed consent, our Elders in Onigaming have asked Onigaming leadership to consider a... <\/p>\n

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Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-99583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"\nOntario First Nation prepared to block highway to stop mining near drinking water source - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/24\/ontario-first-nation-prepared-to-block-highway-to-stop-mining-near-drinking-water-source\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ontario First Nation prepared to block highway to stop mining near drinking water source - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Jon Thompson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Ricochet A northwestern Ontario First Nation that\u2019s struggling through a decade-long social crisis has directed its leaders to blockade the highway if the province grants mineral extraction permits near its water source. Onigaming First Nation Chief Jeff Copenace says elders have instructed him to notify a partnership between First Mining Gold and New Gold that they do not consent to ore extraction or its transportation through the territory. Under pressure to respond to demands to meet by November 21, and facing three funerals over the past two weeks, Copenace issued Ontario\u2019s Ministry of Mines the following statement: \u201cIf this permit is approved without our consultation and without our free, prior, informed consent, our Elders in Onigaming have asked Onigaming leadership to consider a\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/24\/ontario-first-nation-prepared-to-block-highway-to-stop-mining-near-drinking-water-source\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-11-24T21:49:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/11\\\/24\\\/ontario-first-nation-prepared-to-block-highway-to-stop-mining-near-drinking-water-source\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/11\\\/24\\\/ontario-first-nation-prepared-to-block-highway-to-stop-mining-near-drinking-water-source\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"Ontario First Nation prepared to block highway to stop mining near drinking water source\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-24T21:49:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/11\\\/24\\\/ontario-first-nation-prepared-to-block-highway-to-stop-mining-near-drinking-water-source\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":878,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"National News\",\"ticker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/11\\\/24\\\/ontario-first-nation-prepared-to-block-highway-to-stop-mining-near-drinking-water-source\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/11\\\/24\\\/ontario-first-nation-prepared-to-block-highway-to-stop-mining-near-drinking-water-source\\\/\",\"name\":\"Ontario First Nation prepared to block highway to stop mining near drinking water source - 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