New research explores impact of Ring of Fire mining on First Nations in northern Ontario
Focus is on embedding reconciliation into corporate polices
A new research project is exploring the human rights impacts of mining operations on First Nations in the Ring of Fire — a vast mineral-rich area in northern Ontario.
The partnership, announced Wednesday, is between the Anishnawbe Business Professional Association (ABPA) and University of Toronto Faculty of Law's international human rights program.
The research has already begun and is examining how mining companies are engaging with First Nations, with the goal of strengthening their policies on Indigenous relations and sustainability.
Jason Rasevych is a member of Ginoogaming First Nation and president of the ABPA.
"We're looking at this as the business case for bringing, realizing reconciliation in a corporate framework and in the capital markets," he said, "to say to companies, 'This is what you could be doing or should be doing related to Indigenous First Nations-led input and this is how you can hold yourself accountable, and there's value behind that.'"
The project is honing in on the Ring of Fire, a crescent-shaped mineral deposit area in the James Bay lowlands in Treaty 9 territory. For years, the 5,000-square-kilometre area, about 500 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay, has been eyed as a critical source for Ontario's electric vehicle (EV) battery industry and experienced a significant surge in mining claims.
There has been considerable pushback from several First Nations in the area that are against mining claims and exploration activities on their traditional territories. They argue these claims have been executed without their free, prior and informed consent.
There are also a number of open cases against the Ontario government over the duty to consult in northern Ontario's mining sector, as well as a legal action over the province's online claim staking program and its regulatory processes.
Under the new research projects, "students are taking a look as well at these open cases and getting to better understand what the issues are related to the First Nations' positions on that," Rasevych said.
"The Ring of Fire presents a unique challenge and transformational opportunity," he said Wednesday in a statement announcing the project. "It holds immense potential for critical mineral extraction, crucial for the transition to a green economy. Yet, this development must not come at the expense of First Nations rights, lands or traditional ways of life."
Answering call for truth and reconciliation
The ABPA advocates for Indigenous businesses and First Nations community-owned corporations across Treaty 3, Treaty 5, Treaty 9 and the Robinson Huron and Superior Treaty areas.
Rasevych said one of the key goals of the research project is to encourage mining companies to answer call No. 92 of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada's 94 calls to action.
We see companies putting out statements related to Indigenous relations and reconciliation about what they're doing to work with Indigenous communities, where we want to make sure that there's a benchmark and that there's a high standard for doing so.- Jason Rasevych, president, Anishnawbe Business Professional Association
Call No. 92 urges the corporate sector "to adopt the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) as a reconciliation framework and to apply its principles, norms, and standards to corporate policy and core operational activities involving Indigenous peoples and their lands and resources."
"We see companies putting out statements related to Indigenous relations and reconciliation about what they're doing to work with Indigenous communities, where we want to make sure that there's a benchmark and that there's a high standard for doing so," Rasevych said.
The research is also responding to changes at the Canadian Sustainability Standards Board (CSSB), which recently introduced the country's first sustainability disclosure standards.
"We see this as a big opportunity and also a big challenge that's complex, and not speaking only about some of the environmental concerns that are brought up, but from a corporate perspective — what a company needs to consider related to their sustainability initiatives," Rasevych said.
Keeping companies accountable
Nabila Khan is a research associate with the international human rights program at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law.
She explained how upper-year students are working with faculty members to explore the human rights impacts of mining sites in the Ring of Fire area.
"This project seemed like a very natural fit in many ways because our main priority areas right now are Indigenous rights, climate change and corporate accountability," Khan said.
"Many believe that mining in that region is essential for the green transition because a lot of the mineral deposits can be used for EVs and transitioning out of fossil fuels.
"But we also need to ensure that the green transition is also a just transition … that when we're going through this transition, that it's not violating the rights of First Nations."
When it comes to free, prior and informed consent, Khan said, there's often a heavy focus on the government's obligations, but less so on the responsibilities of the business sector.
"Companies have responsibilities to make sure that their operations and what they're doing aren't resulting in human rights harms, and in this case, when they're making mining claims, when they're potentially building infrastructure and mining sites, these could potentially impact the substantive rights of First Nations."
Students are in the process of researching the companies that have staked claims in the Ring of Fire area and are speaking with community members in the First Nations affected, said Khan.
"Our hope is at the end of all of this, we'll come out with a report that highlights some of these concerns and really centres the voices of the people who would be affected by projects like this, and then hopefully envision a path forward."
The plan is to present a preliminary report on the research at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada conference in Toronto in March, said Rasevych.
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