First Nations to launch legal challenge against Ontario, federal bills 5 and C-5

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TORONTO — Nine First Nations in Ontario are asking a court for an injunction that would prevent the federal and provincial governments from moving forward with some of the most contentious aspects of recent laws meant to fast-track infrastructure projects.

The Indigenous communities say in the legal challenge filed in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice that the federal law known as Bill C-5 and the Ontario law known as Bill 5 both represent a “clear and present danger” to the First Nations’ self-determination rights to ways of life on their territories.

Bill C-5 allows cabinet to quickly grant federal approvals for big projects deemed to be in the national interest such as mines, ports and pipelines by sidestepping existing laws, while Ontario’s bill allows its cabinet to suspend provincial and municipal laws through the creation of so-called “special economic zones.”

The First Nations are asking the court for an injunction prohibiting the federal government from naming national interest projects and prohibition Ontario from implementing special economic zones.

They say the laws are unconstitutional because they violate charter right to life, liberty and security of the person, as well as equality rights.

Both the federal and Ontario governments have said their laws are tools to counteract the effects of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs by allowing Canadian development, such as natural resource development, to proceed more quickly.

In a press release announcing the court challenge, First Nations chiefs said they are not against all development, but it must respect their rights and involve proper Indigenous consultation.

“This is not about a battle between development and not,” Chief Todd Cornelius from Oneida Nation of the Thames wrote in the statement.

“It is about doing things recklessly (versus) doing things right.”

Chief Sylvia Koostachin-Metatawabin of Attawapiskat First Nation said that their way of life is not “a pawn in some political game.”

“Rushing headlong into major projects without knowing the costs, means the governments are playing a dangerous game with our lands and futures,” she wrote.