But consultation isn’t a nice-to-have, it’s international law. And local First Nations want an equitable role in the process
In response to a serious question about municipal revenues during the Northern Leaders Debate last Friday, Progressive Conservative leader Doug Ford touted the value of, “unleashing northern Ontario’s economic potential, and I’ll tell you where the potential is: their potential in the north is called the Ring of Fire.”
Ford had planned a northern victory lap to meet with industrial unions in Sault Ste. Marie and Thunder Bay this week, following leaders debates on Friday and Monday. That trip was cancelled after a plane crashed in Toronto, but it was designed to cement Ford’s vision that developing the so-called “Ring of Fire” is somehow a patriotic duty of blue-collar workers.
The Ford government plans to “protect” the north by coming to take its resources, something some in the region have described as doublespeak, but up north Ford is running an election campaign on both tracks at once. He listed roads Ontario promised to build to Marten Falls, Webequie, and Aroland First Nations as “historic agreements” that will “make sure we build that road to the Ring of Fire,” located about 500 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay.
For the rest of this article: https://ricochet.media/politics/doug-ford-wants-to-protect-ontario-by-digging-up-the-ring-of-fire/