Indigenous Affairs Minister Greg Rickford insists Ontario will go by the book when it comes to consulting with First Nations before any moves are made to fast-track major economic projects into development.
“There will no implementation of any aspect of Bill 5 until it is thoroughly consulted," said Rickford in an interview with Northern Ontario Business earlier this week.
“Consultations are ongoing.”
The province announced Oct. 2 that is has posted, on the Environmental Registry of Ontario (ERO) website, the draft criteria for how the Special Economic Zones will be established to speed up major project development in Ontario.
From Oct. 2 onward, there will be a 45-day period to submit comments before the commenting period closes on Nov. 16.
These publicly contentious Special Economic Zones were part of the whole Bill 5 package, formally known as the Protect Ontario by Unleashing Our Economy Act. It was first introduced last April and passed into law in June.
The act is designed to expedite approvals for major resource and infrastructure projects, deemed by the government to be of “critical and strategic importance to Ontario’s economic security.”
Amendments will also be made to the Ontario Heritage Act to exempt certain properties from archaeological requirements under the act.
The high-profile Ring of Fire mineral belt in Ontario’s Far North will most certainly be designated as one of these zones, according to the province.
From last spring to today, Bill 5 has been widely panned by Indigenous and environmental groups, the concerns being that Indigenous and treaty rights, the duty to consult process, and environmental protections will all be trampled.
Some of the ERO-posted draft criteria, now up for comment, were informed from a series of consultation sessions with First Nation communities held over the summer in Toronto (twice), London, Thunder Bay and Sudbury.
That process alone prompted more backlash.
Unlike legislative committee meetings, which are open to the public to attend, these sessions were behind closed doors at undisclosed locations in each city.
Some Indigenous leaders claimed they were not invited, but Economic Development Minister Vic Fedeli maintained that invitations were sent to all Indigenous communities in Ontario, numbering more than 130.
But it’s unknown how many communities actually attended the sessions.
When Rickford was asked if a second round of sessions on the Special Economic Zones might be in the cards, Rickford responded that consultation is far from finished.
He said this week that “there will be plenty of opportunities for future engagements and consultations once the (Bill 5) regulations have landed,” adding that the province will follow the law in discharging its duty to consult.
The Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade will continue to do outreach to individual communities, Rickford said while he’ll work on “the political engagement side of this.”
When asked for his takeaways from last summer’s roaming sessions, Rickford found the comments encouraging and is not indicative of the anger that’s been publicly expressed over Bill 5.
There’s been varying levels of interest from individual communities in asking followup technical questions on how Bill 5 can work for them, he said.
“I can say in good faith that the reception has generally been more to the positive, that communities have proactively sought out more technical consultation on certain aspects, and that we’ve had a very encouraging number of First Nations reach out wanting to know more of the positive aspects of the bill as opposed to what you had heard and seen a couple of months ago.”
With the province dangling $3.1 billion in incentives in loans, grants and scholarships in exchange for Indigenous project participation, Rickford added the communities he’s heard from want to be involved in creating legacy infrastructure and participate in responsible resource development.
A critical Ontario Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner said in a release that these zones provide no protections for the environment or Indigenous rights and clear the way for “unchecked development” across Ontario.
The posted draft criteria contain “broad definitions of what counts as ‘economically important’ and ‘socially beneficial,'" he said.
“Let’s call it what it is: these so-called ‘criteria’ are deliberately vague. They don’t protect the environment, uphold Indigenous rights, set real boundaries or democratic oversight. They’re crafted to look like safeguards, but in reality, they do nothing to prevent backroom deals and giveaways to well-connected insiders, now rebranded as ‘trusted proponents.’”