First Nation leaders, advocates rally in Thunder Bay, Ont., to demand Bill 5's repeal

Sarah Law · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 13, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

Etched connected a poster committee the size of her body, Mary McPherson held up a pencil-drawn representation of Ontario Premier Doug Ford.

With dollar signs implicit his eyes, Ford is lasting successful beforehand of a burned-down forest, holding a torn transcript of the James Bay Treaty.

The artwork, McPherson said, is successful effect to Bill 5, arguable authorities which aims to fast-track improvement successful the sanction of unleashing the province's economical potential.

"I'm truly aggravated and frightened for the future. I consciousness similar already, this territory has experienced a batch of biology harm arsenic a effect of assets extraction," said McPherson, a subordinate of Couchiching First Nation.

"I'm acrophobic astir the deficiency of consultation and astir importantly, the deficiency of consent from Indigenous communities earlier going distant with projects similar the Ring of Fire."

The authorities volition spot the instauration of peculiar economical zones, which volition let exemptions for definite municipal and provincial laws erstwhile it comes to projects of economical value — namely mining.

The provincial authorities says it plans to consult with First Nations implicit the summertime to assistance pass Bill 5's regulations and the peculiar economical zones, including the mineral-rich Ring of Fire successful the James Bay lowlands.

Over the past respective weeks, dozens of First Nation leaders and conservation groups person been speaking retired against the bill, arguing it tramples connected Treaty rights and weakens biology protections.

On Thursday, McPherson joined astir 200 radical extracurricular Thunder Bay—Atikokan MPP Kevin Holland's office, calling for Bill 5 to beryllium repealed.

"Really instrumentality into beardown information UNDRIP (United Nations Declaration connected the Rights of Indigenous Peoples) — and I'm not conscionable talking astir Section 35 and work to consult and accommodate, which I personally [feel] is not enough," McPherson said.

"I'm talking astir superior engagement with Indigenous peoples arsenic adjacent partners and taking earnestly their consent."

WATCH | First Nations members rally against Bill 5 

Hundreds of First Nations members from bluish Ontario rallied extracurricular Queen's Park past week earlier the measure was passed, aft Kiiwetinoong MPP Sol Mamakwa, a subordinate of Kingfisher Lake First Nation, was asked to permission the legislature for saying "the premier is telling untruths to First Nations."

Economic zones 'of communal involvement for First Nations'

Joyce Hunter, a subordinate of Weenusk First Nation and 1 of the organizers of Thursday's rally, told the assemblage she knocked connected Holland's bureau door, but helium wasn't there.

She said his unit refused to travel extracurricular and talk with participants oregon walk on their connection to the MPP, and unopen the doorway connected her.

"This is not thing that [only] the First Nations are talking about. Everybody is talking astir this, and we privation to beryllium heard," Hunter said.

"To person that doorway slammed similar that, it was truly a precise inappropriate mode to respond to radical who elected Kevin Holland."

Later on, attendees of the rally slid their signs beneath the bureau door.

"Bill 5 is astir unlocking nation-building projects that volition bring economical opportunity, captious infrastructure, and good-paying national jobs to communities crossed northwestern [Ontario] and the state for generations," says a connection from Holland's bureau emailed to CBC News.

"We are maintaining precocious biology standards, labour laws, and work to consult. Any assertion different is false."

The connection besides says projects streamlined done Bill 5 "are of communal involvement for First Nations."

"They enactment bequest infrastructure and volition unleash further economical accidental by bringing roadworthy construction, hydro hookups, wellness care, schooling, jobs, and different services backmost to their community," it says.

Two of the region's First Nations that person been moving with the state connected gathering roads to the Ring of Fire person besides spoken retired against the caller legislation.

'The measure tin beryllium killed'

Since 2002, Grassy Narrows First Nation has upheld a blockade against clear-cut logging and mining successful its territory. The Treaty 3 assemblage has a agelong bequest of biology activism, peculiarly since the Dryden Paper Mill dumped astir 9 tonnes of mercury into the English-Wabigoon River System successful the 1960s and 70s.

To this day, astir 90 per cent of its assemblage members acquisition symptoms of mercury poisoning, including Chrissy Isaacs.

"For Grassy Narrows, we're ever gonna support that onshore due to the fact that we unrecorded with a lifelong sentence" of biology harms, Isaacs said.

Her interest is that Bill 5 "opens the gates" to hundreds of mining claims that Grassy Narrows has fought against for years.

"I consciousness similar if there's capable pressure, the measure tin beryllium killed, and it has to," she said. "They person to consult with us, they person to speech to america erstwhile it comes to large decisions similar that."

Chris Moonias, erstwhile main of Neskantaga First Nation, said his assemblage voted Wednesday to request the Ontario authorities repeal Bill 5.

The First Nation is besides calling for the resignation of Kenora MPP Greg Rickford, the minister of Indigenous affairs and First Nations economical reconciliation and curate liable for Ring of Fire economical and assemblage partnerships.

"We volition instrumentality enactment now. We volition enactment radical connected the ground. We volition travel up to those rallies oregon if there's immoderate blockades happening successful different communities, we volition enactment them," Moonias said.