by: Chris Kornacki/Wawatay News
Nishnawbe Aski Nation Grand Chief Stan Beardy says any development in the area known as the Ring of Fire will be halted without the consent of First Nations.
Beardy is reacting to Ontario's Liberal government proposed five-year plan, Open Ontario, that includes plans to develop a large chromite deposit in the Ring of Fire area.
"The province can make any promises they want but at the end of the day there will be no resource development happening on our homelands without consent by First Nations," Beardy said.
The Ring of Fire is an area between Marten Falls and Webequie First Nations, about 500 kilometers northeast of Thunder Bay. It is the subject of an ongoing blockade by Marten Falls and Webequie that began Jan. 18.
"We are not against the development, however, we want a guarantee that we will have meaningful participation and economic benefits from the development or we will have no choice but to halt it," Beardy said.
Marten Falls and Webequie have outlined a list of ten issues and have presented them to both the government and mineral exploration companies.
Currently, ice landing strips at both Koper Lake and McFaulds Lake have been closed to prevent further mineral exploration and development from continuing in the Ring of Fire area until the outlined issues have been resolved.
Open Ontario will be unveiled March 8 in a throne speech.
