Blockade threats surface over Ontario government’s proposed mining bill

Road, rail and mine blockades could be on the horizon as First Nations ratchet up pressure on the Ontario government to kill a proposed bill that seeks to speed up large mining projects in the north.

Provincial ministers say they have heard the outcry and will make improvements to Bill 5, but are stopping short of saying they would eliminate it outright.

The proposed law has sparked anger among First Nations, environmentalists and civil liberty groups who say the bill tramples rights and guts protections for endangered species.

The province is set to create so-called special economic zones that would suspend provincial and municipal laws for certain projects.

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Premier Doug Ford has said the province intends to declare the critical mineral-rich Ring of Fire in northern Ontario one such zone.

First Nation chiefs are at Queen’s Park today to tell a committee studying the bill that it n does not respect the province’s duty to consult and other obligations as laid out in Treaty No. 9.