Harvey Yesno was just elected the new Chief of Eabametoong First Nation on June 17, 2019. Eabametoong is the largest isolated community in the Ring of Fire with an on-reserve population of roughly 1,500 people.
This speech was written for the 8th Annual Aboriginal Energy Forum – December 4, 2014. While a bit dated, many of the issues are still relevant today and it gives a terrific overview of the many challenges First Nations face in the isolated region of Northwestern Ontario. – Stan Sudol
Good afternoon.
First of all, thank you for inviting me to speak at this 8th Annual Aboriginal Energy Forum. I want to acknowledge the traditional territory of the Mississauga of the New Credit First Nation, Chiefs, Elders and participants. I also want to thank the conference organizers for inviting me to speak to you.
Today we come together in a forum where we can share and learn from each other. It is an opportunity for everyone here to broaden their understanding of energy issues affecting all of us, make connections and share valuable information.
It is my belief, that in order for any one of our First Nations to succeed in achieving the maximum benefits from energy development, we will need to share our knowledge and our experience with each other.
Nishnawbe Aski Nation’s mandate is to advocate for the socio-economic and political aspirations of its peoples. NAN strives to secure the quality of life for its people in the areas of education, lands and resources, health, governance, and justice.
We are 49 First Nations situated in the Northern Ontario. We are not individual First Nations trying to work things out for ourselves but are a Nation of First Nations.
We are drawn together to seek solutions to the challenges and opportunities presented to us but we also come together to celebrate who we are and where we come from.
So let me take a little time to talk about who we are and where we come from.
WHO ARE WE AND WHERE WE COME FROM
Nishnawbe Aski Nation had its beginning when First Nations leaders came together in early 1970’s to find solutions to common issues.
The Declaration of Nishnawbe Aski Nation was made to Ontario and Canada in 1977 based upon United Nations principles for recognition as a state or a nation. It declared our goals and objectives as well as our rights and responsibilities.
Grand Council of Treaty No. 9 was formed and the First Nations at that time were the beneficiaries to the James Bay Treaty, also known as Treaty No. 9.
Later the First Nation communities from Treaty No. 5 near the Manitoba border joined the organization and we became Nishnawbe Aski Nation.
NAN First Nation traditional territories encompass approximately 338,000 square kilometers (210,000 square miles).
NAN is comprised of 49 First Nations, organized into 7 first nation groupings and independent First Nations. We have a population of 45,000 people on-and-off reserve and are one of the fastest growing sectors of the population in Canada.
Many of our First Nation people live off reserve in urban centres. Those individuals that live on reserve still hunt and fish and harvest from their traditional lands to supplement their livelihood.
Thirty four First Nations are remote and accessible by air or winter ice roads or a very long trek through the boreal forest.
The remoteness factor impacts our communities in many ways, from the high cost of living, high cost of construction, and operation and maintenance. With limited access to the services the rest of Canadians take for granted, including energy.
Most of the remote communities have to truck in fuel, such as gasoline, heating oil and diesel generation during the winter road season, or fly it in if the season is short which has been the case.
Climate change is making our reliance on the winter roads more tenuous and our need for all weather roads and new energy solutions is more critical.
Before the Treaties were signed, we lived off the land. We had our own governance structures, our own economic systems and trade routes. We had our own culture, traditions and way of life.
So, we were a people with common goals and objectives long before we signed on to Treaty #9 and Treaty #5. We refer to that as Time Immemorial – and most people here are familiar with that term.
When the French and English settlers came, we taught them to survive on the land. For over 200 years we worked together with the Europeans in the fur trade.
The Hudson Bay Company and others established trading outposts throughout our traditional territories near where our people resided in around the mouths of rivers or lakes.
TREATY
After Confederation, Canada began making Treaties with the Aboriginal Peoples in order to secure the vast lands across Ontario and the western regions of the country.
The Federal Government and Provincial Government divided up their jurisdictions. Canada had the responsibility for First Nations and the lands that were “reserved” for First Nations.
The provinces took jurisdiction over lands and resources, which they refer to as Crown Land. All Crown Land is our First Nation traditional territories and homelands.
Two differing interpretations of the NAN Treaties have led to misunderstanding and conflict between the Treaty Partners over the years.
The governments derive their understanding of the Treaties from the letter of the written document. The content of recently discovered diaries of an Ontario Treaty Commissioner was totally contradictory to the written legal text of the Treaty to hunt, fish and trap and use of lands in perpetuity.
These same diaries support the oral promises made, at the time of the treaty signings that the NAN First Nations relied on.
The position of the NAN First Nations has always been that they did not give up their lands but made a Treaty to live peacefully with the newcomers and to share the land and its resources.
That is the position we hold today and it drives the way we do business with industry and government.
We did not give up the land!
So what does our Treaty perspective mean in terms of energy development in the North?
When it comes to development in NAN First Nations territories, you cannot work outside of the Treaty. It simply isn’t possible. It is the foundation that we operate from.
The reason that government and industry are trying to have meaningful dialogue with our First Nations is because we have Treaty Rights.
It is because of the Treaty that the government has to consult and accommodate First Nations under the law.
We are the decision-makers about our lands. It is because of the Treaty promises that government must acknowledge this.
The days are gone when resource companies, construction companies, or anyone else could exploit First Nation lands and resources.
Any and all development in our First Nations’ territories must be First Nation-led, and First Nations must give free, prior and informed consent to any activities in their territories, including energy development.
Our rights are enshrined in the Constitution Act of 1982. For the past thirty years Supreme Court decisions have been favoring First Nations. Our Treaties are alive and they are relevant, even under the Canadian legal system.
This did not happen by accident. It has happened because of the brilliant foresight of our ancestors. They made Treaty with Canada and Ontario and passed the Treaty Promises on from generation to generation.
Our grandfathers and grandmothers kept the spirit and intent of those sacred agreements alive, so that we could arrive at this moment in our history with our Treaty and First Nation rights intact.
Many Treaty warriors have come before us. They paved the way for this moment by their hard work, commitment and wisdom. I thank them, and I plan to honour their work and continue on the Treaty path. Leaders like the late Grand Chief Andrew Rickard, Dennis Cromarty and Dr. Stan Louttit to name a few.
Governments and industry have begun to take our rights more seriously. As a result, we have leverage that Southern Ontario First Nations did not have when they were engulfed by development and urban expansion and we want to learn from their experiences.
FAR NORTH ACT
In 2009, the Ontario Government passed the Far North Act, Bill 191.
NAN First Nations opposed the Act.
We had many concerns about Bill 191. We had not been appropriately or adequately consulted and we most definitely were not accommodated.
The Far North Act was pushed through the legislature at a time when Ontario was working with our First Nations through a bilateral negotiation process call Oski Machiitawin also known as the Northern Table.
That Northern Table process was supposed to be the beginning of a “New Relationship” between our First Nations and the Province of Ontario.
It failed!
Instead of being a “new relationship”, it turned out to be the same relationship. While still sitting at the northern table with us, the Province began drafting the legislation with 64 NGOs such as Canadian Boreal Initiative and others.
We were vigorously opposed it because it was an imposition upon our people. All because of some birds and rats.
The Far North Act tells us how our traditional territories will be divided up and used. It tells us that 225,000 square kilometers will be protected, like more parks. It does not tell us how or what that will look like.
The province has committed funding for community land use planning but not nearly enough. The government will still have the final say as to whether it “accepts” our plans.
Some First Nations have accepted provincial funding for community land use planning, and Ontario views this as accepting the Far North Act.
They sneaked in a steering committee of the converted during the LUP process and it dies once the community LUPs are at the discretion of MNR.
We are not in agreement with the Act, but our First Nations are under-resourced and are forced to rely on funding for land use planning.
The Act still stands in the way of First Nations developing their lands in their own time and as they see fit. And it is an impediment to our own energy development
We want to see the Far North Act replaced by First Nations Land Use Planning based on the Treaties. Such a process will lead to a certainty of development.
We are the ones who should plan and develop our energy resources.
We may do this in partnership with others but we will have the final say, not Ontario.
The Far North Act will relegate our people to a perpetual welfare state. It will not create stability or certainty in the north for development.
Our relationship with Ontario always becomes strained when we assert that we have jurisdiction over our lands and territory.
Discussion tables, negotiations, and MOUs fade away without results.
We will not allow that to happen now.
There is too much at stake, for First Nations Peoples, Ontarians and all Canadians.
The potential to create wealth from First Nation traditional territories in Ontario is enormous and it will help drive both the Province’s and the Country’s economy for decades.
First Nations immediate priority is new energy to support their community growth and economic and resource development.
New energy opportunities will also be required to run the mines, services, transportation and production of goods, just to name a few.
The Treaties are the context in which energy development and all other activities on our lands will take place.
There are three Treaty Partners and one shared future.
We need to build it together and build it right.
PREMIER’S PRIORITIES AND NAN PRIORITIES
Recently, I was reviewing Premier Wynne’s priorities for Ontario. One of those priorities is “Aboriginal community well being and social and economic development.” Under this priority, the province is focusing on natural resource development in Northern Ontario.
The action items for this priority are laid out in a group of cross-ministerial instructions. The instructions cover a variety of initiatives, including a new Treaty strategy, resource development, energy development, and poverty reduction, just to name a few.
Last week, the responsible Cabinet Ministers met with First Nation Leadership in Ontario to reiterate our priorities and align where possible with the Premier’s priorities.
We are hopeful that this time, the province is listening and this time the bureaucrats follow the Premier’s lead.
Our priorities at NAN are reflected in many of the Premier’s priorities, so it seems logical that we should be able to work effectively together to make gains for all parties.
I recommend that the Treaty be our guide and our pillar as we navigate the complexities of resource development and the changes that will come with it.
We need to approach all of our initiatives and all of our negotiations, from a Treaty perspective, nation-to-nation with Canada and government-to-government with Ontario.
Consistency, stability and a common language can be achieved if we use the Treaty as our foundation.
WHAT NAN FIRST NATIONS NEED
Today, NAN First Nations find themselves under pressure from resource development.
We find ourselves caught up in change that is moving fast. Somehow we have to respond to that change and also thrive from it.
Our communities’ growth is stunted because there is not enough energy capacity to support their growing needs.
Our people have suffered and are suffering from years of top down racist government legislation and assimilation polices, displacement from the land and residential school abuse that has had a devastated impact upon our people.
Treaty promises unfulfilled have us struggling in third world conditions in spite of the fact that our lands are rich in resources.
Our First Nations need clean water and functioning sewer systems.
We are in desperate need of housing, health and social services, clean energy and economic development opportunities that will bring prosperity to our people.
As we rush ahead to develop energy, mines and transportation corridors, we must remember that the people also need their living conditions improved and a chance for every individual to thrive.
We will need education and training to share in wealth creation.
One of the quickest ways to improve our living standard is to build an all weather road network and other transportation routes to reduce our cost of goods and doing business.
We expect to have a partnership in infrastructure projects and to own infrastructure, including transmission lines, run of the river hydro and other projects and more.
We expect to be front and center when it comes to wealth creation in the North.
As it has been said before we are not against development however when Chiefs and Councils are under tremendous pressure to address the social and community infrastructure deficits – it’s pretty hard to sit and discuss economic issues because it is not part of the discussions.
SOURCES OF REVENUE
Our First Nations have to create their own sources of revenue, including sharing in the taxes and royalties that Ontario and Canada receive from the energy sector and other resource development.
Communities will be negotiating Revenue Sharing Agreements that will genuinely benefit the people. Communities also need to be compensated appropriately for loss of use of their traditional lands; lands that in some cases are lost to us forever.
Our First Nations will require a resource equity mechanism so that we can share the revenues and benefits from development among all of our communities.
The opportunities for economic development and wealth creation in our First Nations will be limitless in the resource based economy that will evolve with development.
No NAN First Nation should be left behind.
No NAN First Nation should be left without access to the energy they require to prosper.
Every community must have the opportunity to grow and to achieve a better standard of living for its people.
Our people must achieve the maximum benefits possible from sustainable, responsible, and environmentally sound resource development, including energy.
No longer will we accept minor compensation.
ENERGY STATUS OF THE REMOTE COMMUNITIES (and looming crisis)
NAN has 34 remote First Nations without road access and the majority of these still rely on outdated diesel for power generation.
The traditional territories of these First Nations are exceedingly rich in minerals, precious metals and other resources.
The Ring of Fire is located in the territories of some of the First Nations that are not linked to the rest of the province with all-weather roads, nor connected to the power grid or fibre.
The Government of Ontario has begun discussions with these communities on many issues related to development in their region.
To date, neither the Province or Canada or the mining proponents have proposed energy or transportation routes that include linking our communities.
This is unacceptable.
The communities that are not connected to the Ontario transmission line system rely on diesel power plants operated by Hydro One Remote Communities Inc. and Independent Power Authorities.
Several of these communities are Independent Power Authorities with their own set of operational issues.
The communities are reaching a crisis point. They have no funds left to purchase diesel fuel. Fuel is running out for them and will run out before the full onslaught of winter is here.
The First Nation Independent Power Authorities are not eligible for the Rural Remote Rate Protection (RRRP) subsidies. They incur high operating costs and annual operating deficits, the highest residential rates, and inadequate fuel tank storage capacity.
The RRRP regulation must be amended immediately to enable the Independent Power Authorities eligibility for these subsidies.
INAC expects the First Nations to fill out templates and forms that are not relevant to the fact that this is a crisis situation that needs an expedited process to keep our people from freezing this winter.
The communities need funds right now to get diesel.
First Nations need solutions to their energy issues this year, not in three to seven years when they may be linked to a transmission line if they happen to be near a mine.
Government, industry and First Nations want to achieve the same goal: development of resources in our First Nations’ traditional territories.
It is crucial that we work together to develop a comprehensive regional infrastructure plan for a NAN wide road network and transmission line system.
In the interim, the communities that are reliant on diesel power require immediate increased energy capacity and financial aid to purchase diesel and reduce the cost to their residential customers.
We need innovative approaches and new renewable energy sources that can be developed for our people as soon as possible and the Far North Act cannot stand in the way.
It will take many years of hard work for all parties involved in resource, energy, and infrastructure development to achieve our goals. Some goals, like affordable and adequate energy supply for NAN First Nations, must be achieved sooner than others.
HOW WE WILL GET THERE
As we move forward on long and short-term goals we will need community plans and we will need a Regional Infrastructure plan.
But first, we need knowledge and information to make these plans.
SHARING INFORMATION, GEO-SPATIAL DATA BASE
At some point, every one of NAN’s 49 member First Nations will be impacted by energy and resource development.
Development, whether it is mining or energy or something else, will be an on-going process. We will require different actions at different times.
Projects and initiatives will change but our goal will be the same, which is to develop our resources in ways that protect the land, create prosperity, health and wellness for our communities.
At every stage of development our communities will need information to help them plan and make decisions.
Many of our First Nations have been impacted by development for decades, especially those that are south of the 50th parallel.
They have important lessons to share.
Collectively we have a storehouse of knowledge, experience and information. Conferences like this are important but we can’t attend them all the time.
We need to find a way to share our information and support each other on an on-going basis. We need a way to stay connected and to continue to learn from each other.
NAN is undertaking an innovative project that can help us stay connected, share information, learn, teach, and support each other.
The NAN Web-based Geo-spatial Database is being developed. It will be a tool for First Nations and our partners to access and share information.
NAN First Nations will need information in order to plan and make informed decisions about resources and infrastructure. We need to have access to data that will help ensure our participation in the development of our territories, so that we may also gain the maximum benefits.
Through the database, we will be able to centralize information from many sources. Our First Nations will have instant access to documents, reports and studies from governments, research institutes, universities, and private sector sources.
The Geo-spatial database will be able to produce maps that our First Nations will be able to use for activities like land use planning, environmental monitoring, or infrastructure development.
It will help First Nations identify their needs, plan for the future and be pro-active about development opportunities and challenges. The database will help us develop our regional and local infrastructure plans for roads and energy.
The key to the success of this project is partnership. We will need partnerships with municipalities and all levels of government.
We will need partnerships with local, regional, national and international organizations.
We also need partnerships between our own communities and with other First Nations.
This is one step towards empowering our First Nations to better respond to the many pressures they will face over the next few decades. It is a very important step towards achieving our goals.
Moving Forward
The government must not nickel and dime out First Nations anymore, especially if they want to see development succeed in the North.
If Ontario and Canada are not willing to adequately fund First Nations to be full partners, there will be no wealth creation and all of us will lose. Certainty will come when government steps up to the plate and funds First Nations properly.
For years we have been set up to fail. We have been under-funded so that the government’s bureaucracy can continue to exist on failure that has actually been contrived by them. This must stop!
Instead of murmuring about transparency, when they know full well we jump through the most stringent reporting and audit processes.
The government needs to champion our First Nations causes and not litigate and block us at each positive step we make.
We must strive for friendlier legislation that helps move us all, First Nations and Non-Aboriginal people alike forward – that would be a step in the right direction.
We don’t need more colonial and paternal legislation like the Far North Act and the proposed Extractive Industries Transparency Act.
CONCLUSION
These are exciting but challenging times for NAN First Nations. We look forward to the day when we have the same access to energy that most Canadians do. But beyond that, we look forward to building, maintaining and owning energy infrastructure.
There is so much work to be done and so many things to consider that we can become overwhelmed. But we will not stay that way.
Our Nation will rise to the challenges that face us in order to make a better tomorrow. And we will need our friends and our partners.
Today I invite you to be our partner. We need you so that we may create the best comprehensive database to support our First Nations.
I also encourage you to become more familiar with our Treaties so that we may fully implement the promises and improve our relationships.
The more we understand the Treaty as a way to achieve our goals at the political level and at the community level, the more focused and effective we will be.
We will do our best to achieve our goals by working with our Treaty partners in an honest nation-to-nation and government-to-government Treaty relationship.
We will listen to our Elders. We will make sure we protect the land, water and air for our future generations.
We will demand appropriate environmental assessment and environmental monitoring processes for energy development and for all activities that will impact our lands and our communities.
We will insist that energy and other infrastructure development be First Nation lead.
Hydro One Networks and Ontario Power Generation will not play a lead role without the consent and meaningful participation of the First Nations.
We will make partnerships with municipalities, industry, research groups, educational institutions and others in order to increase our capacity in the realm of energy generation.
A NAN-Ontario-Canada Infrastructure Build Fund must be created.
We will make partnerships with each other that will expand our economic development potential.
First Nations will find ways to improve their relationships so that they can move forward with unity, strength and success.
We will do all of this because our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren will be impacted by everything we do today.
Give us the tools and we will create certainty for development. We will build a hope and a future and create wealth.
The quality of life for our future generations, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people, depends on how well we work together and share with one another, like we promised to do when we made Treaty.
Miigwetch