Ring of Fire move suggests something afoot

Posted on November 28, 2012

Ontario’s Ring of Fire mineral zone is intriguing for the groups it brings together and the machinations it reveals.

For instance, in an update on its Nakina project drilling program, Debut Diamonds, a KWG affiliate, has announced that Theresa Okimaw-Hall has resigned as a member of its board of directors “as a consequence of her recent employment by the Mushkegowuk Tribal Council as Ring of Fire manager.”

The former chief of Attawapiskat First Nation joined the extended KWG Resources family last year as executive director of Canada Chrome Corporation, a KWG offshoot dedicated to the development of a rail line that would serve future mines in Ontario’s Ring of Fire mineral zone.

Her task was to work with the region’s First Nation communities “to reach an agreement for a shared ownership of the proposed railway,” the company said in announcing her appointment.

When coupled with other news coming out of the Ring, her appointment as Mushkegowuk’s Ring of Fire manager suggests there may be something positive afoot in the benighted mineral zone. And Mushkegowuk seems to be in the thick of it.

In a November 21 article, Shawn Bell of Wawatay News outlined a tribal council proposal to create a “unique mining plan” for the Mushkegowuk region that would give local First Nations a real voice in mineral sector activities in their traditional lands.

Mushkegowuk Grand Chief Stan Louttit told Wawatay News that the mining plan would involve specific legislation and policies that reflect the unique rights of the region’s First Nations, while addressing First Nation concerns with what the tribal council sees as shortcomings of the province’s new Mining Act.

By giving First Nations consent over mineral activities in their region, the plan “would add certainty for industry and First Nations alike,” Louttit said in the article.

While the details of this Mushkegowuk plan are the stuff of future negotiations, the idea of special mining policies for far northern regions certainly has merit. At the very least, it deserves serious consideration at the highest levels.

And it is not without precedent.

Years ago, Ontario developed special regulations for Temagami when it reopened mining lands in that environmentally — and politically — sensitive area. More recently, in its implementation of the new Mining Act, it responded with sensitivity to the differing attitudes of southern and Northern Ontario.

Surely, then, there is a way to incorporate Constitutional and cultural differences in a way that reflects the unique circumstances of far northern First Nations without weakening the pan-Ontario legitimacy of the Mining Act and its regulations.

It’s a concept that could be part of a way forward in the challenging Ring of Fire zone. And it would be more productive than withdrawing huge blocks of mining lands because Ontario can’t or won’t deal with the demands of communities who can’t or won’t accept the approach of the current Mining Act.

The situation becomes even more intriguing, however, when linked to Mushkegowuk’s support for the “New Deal” Ring of Fire rail plan announced last month by unions at the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission.

In a release at the time, Mushkegowuk Deputy Grand Chief Leo Friday welcomed a federally regulated ports authority that would take over ONTC’s assets. He was quick to signal his approval for a plan to have that ports authority develop and build a Ring of Fire rail link.

So…Theresa Okimaw-Hall moves from Canada Chrome, which is proposing a Ring of Fire rail line, to Mushkegowuk Tribal Council, which is proposing an amended Mining Act framework that might actually work for both Ontario and key Ring of Fire First Nations, and which is also supporting a New Deal ONTC Ring of Fire rail plan, which is coming from a ports authority group that says it is in discussions with Canada Chrome.

Intriguingly circular.

Goes to show that Northerners may not be the most politically powerful people in the world, but they know how to network to get things done. These folks seem to be up to something, and it bears watching.