McGuinty defends land development legislation despite First Nations anger

Grand Chief Stan Beardy of Nishnawbe Aski Nation says he supports community-based land planning, but doesn't like the fact that the legislation gives the government veto power.

TANYA TALAGA/TORONTO STAR

Premier Dalton McGuinty is defending his decision to push ahead with northern land development legislation over the angry objections of First Nations.

Several aboriginal leaders are demanding that he scrap the Far North Act, but McGuinty insists there’s support for the bill, which is slated for a third and final reading in the legislature Thursday.

“We have put forward an initiative which, I think, broadly most Ontarians — including our aboriginal communities — continue to embrace,” McGuinty said.

“Which is, we want to strike a balance between developing the north, ensuring that our aboriginal communities’ rights are protected and that they can in fact participate in the creation of that wealth, and that we strike a balance when it comes to protecting our natural environment.”

The bill would exclude up to 42 per cent of Ontario’s land mass from development, protecting 225,000 square kilometres of boreal forest.

McGuinty said the government has worked long and hard on the bill, and held “extensive consultation” with First Nations.

But First Nations leaders want the government to dump Bill 191, saying it violates their treaty rights and doesn’t give them a say in how their lands will be developed.

They also accused McGuinty of lying to them by promising not to pass the legislation without their approval.

Grand Chief Stan Beardy of Nishnawbe Aski Nation, which represents 49 First Nations in Ontario’s north, has said they support community-based land planning, but don’t like the fact that the legislation gives the government veto power.

“He promised a true partnership with First Nations and we are ready and able to make that happen, but first he has to kill this bill. He has no choice,” Beardy said Monday.

“If McGuinty thinks he can govern the land without our co-operation he’s wrong. If he thinks his ministers can override our land use decisions, he is wrong. If he thinks he can avoid a treaty by refusing to talk about it, he’s wrong.”

Natural Resources Minister Linda Jeffrey said the government addressed concerns about the so-called veto power by changing the legislation to give First Nations final approval.

Beardy said First Nations have read the revised bill and are still opposed to it.

Nishnawbe Aski Nation, which has the support of the Assembly of First Nations, has vowed to use “any means necessary” to protect its treaty rights.

The government’s refusal to back down could jeopardize a number of projects aimed at boosting economic development in the north, such as the Ring of Fire chromite deposit near James Bay, said NDP critic Gilles Bisson.

“I’ve gone to the Ring of Fire communities,” said Bisson, who represents the massive northern riding of Timmins-James Bay.

“They’re saying, ‘Listen, if (Bill) 191 is passed the way it is now, there will be blockades.’ And it won’t be the leadership manning the blockades, it’ll be community members. They’re very upset over this.”

First Nations aren’t the only groups opposing the bill, he said. Northern mayors, chambers of commerce and the mining sector aren’t on side either.

“There’s nobody who wants this,” Bisson added. “Only the government of Ontario.”

The bill must be scrapped because it will kill jobs in the north, said Opposition Leader Tim Hudak.

“Dalton McGuinty wants to freeze northern Ontario in time and turn it into a giant museum,” he said.

“We’d go down a different path, work with First Nations and northern mayors to create jobs again in the north and get the economy moving again.”