Indigenous people rallied at Queen's Park Monday afternoon, demanding the Ford government "kill Bill 5."
Inside, MPPs debated the government's move to time-allocate the bill, which will speed it through the legislative process and curtail debate.
Bill 5 would give the provincial cabinet the power to designate an area a “special economic zone,” and then exempt selected proponents and projects from requirements under any provincial law or regulation, including bylaws of municipalities and local boards, that would otherwise apply.
Ontario's bill also proposes to speed up approvals for mining projects through a “one-window” approach, ends an environmental assessment for a controversial dump expansion in Dresden, Ont., replaces the province's Endangered Species Act with legislation that environmental groups argue offers far weaker protections, and empowers cabinet to exempt projects from archeological assessment requirements — which Indigenous leaders have warned puts sacred sites at risk.
NDP MPP Sol Mamakwa was ejected from the legislature Monday morning for accusing the premier of lying, which is a violation of the rules that govern parliamentary debate.
"Speaker, First Nations in Ontario do not want Bill 5. I say no to Bill 5," he said. "Last week, the government said that they respect First Nations, that they respect treaty rights. Speaker, we know the premier is telling untruths to First Nations about—"
When he repeatedly refused to withdraw that comment, he was escorted from the chamber.
Mamakwa said he believes the premier is not telling the truth when he says "that he respects and honours treaties" and "that he respects and honours the duty to consult."
"That's not the truth, because the way they're presenting this bill, the way the bill is written up, speaks the opposite," he told reporters.
Outside, at the rally, Mamakwa was cheered on for the move.
"What he meant to say is that Doug Ford is a liar," said Nishnawbe Aski Nation Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler. "When Doug Ford says that he's going to respect our rights and we are the people, he's lying. When he says he wants to meet with us to talk about this piece of legislation, he is lying, because we've sent him invitations to come and meet with us in our territories, and he hasn't shown up."
"When he says that he's prepared to make amendments to this bill to accommodate our interests, he's lying, because they are pushing this through as we speak," he continued.
"And I will tell Ford: 'If you're so adamant about passing this bill, go ahead and do it, but know that it will have the opposite effect. It will not achieve what you think that this bill will achieve — because we love our land too much."
Fiddler and other leaders have warned that grassroots Indigenous people are planning to reignite the protests and blockades of the Idle No More movement in response to Bill 5. When he asked the gathered crowd on Monday who would follow the lead of the Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI) leaders who were jailed over a mining protest, he was answered by cheers and fists in the air.
Fiddler told the crowd that Mamakwa was "trying to be very diplomatic" by using the word "untruths."
When Indigenous leaders' opposition to the bill began to mount, the government announced a plan to consult this summer on regulations under the bill to "Indigenous-led economic zones." Indigenous Affairs Minister Greg Rickford said political engagement with Indigenous leaders will begin on that as soon as next week.
Fiddler is one of the political leaders Rickford has reached out to, as is Chiefs of Ontario Regional Chief Abram Benedict, and both have said it's too little, too late.
On Monday, Scott McLeod, the Anishinabek Nation regional chief for Lake Huron, called the move “a last-minute, (last-) ditch effort to try and include First Nations, and definitely not the honour of the Crown.”
“Quite frankly, it's putting lipstick on a pig, and we're not ready to entertain that,” he said.
But Rickford said the outreach is moving along, and some leaders want to take part in the consultations he's planning.
"Indigenous leaders, First Nations leaders in business, are wanting to be assured that they're part of these economic partnerships that build big things for Ontario and for their communities," said Rickford.
Asked to name any First Nation in support of Bill 5, Rickford did not, suggesting it would be inappropriate for him to do so.
"Can you name your sources?" he shot back at the reporter from Le Droit who asked him the question. "My credibility is staked on having conversations with First Nations leaders across this province."
Monday's rally was organized by Anishinabek Nation leadership along with the Robinson Huron Waawiindamaagewin, Chiefs of Ontario, Nishnawbe Aski Nation, Grand Council Treaty #3, Association of Iroquois and Allied Indians and other groups. A couple of hundred protesters chanted, "Kill Bill 5," and some held signs warning that it was "unleashing a reckoning."
Myna Toulouse, a great-grandmother from Sagamok First Nation who held a sign saying that Bill 5 has "unleashed a reckoning," said she'd travelled to Toronto on a bus to be part of the rally to protect her community's water from the environmental damage she believes the bill will ultimately cause.
"The 'reckoning' means we've got to straighten it out — respect our lands, Mother Earth and water," she said, when asked about her sign. "It's for the younger ones, the next generation."
