THUNDER BAY — The provincial and federal “Bill 5s” are undermining Indigenous governance and treaty rights, political scientist Ryan Fleming says.
They “treat Indigenous rights as an issue to navigate around” rather than a promise to be honoured, he told Newswatch after delivering a presentation to Neeganii-Iishawin Gathering 2026.
Provincial Bill 5 and federal Bill C-5, both designed to get major projects such as new mines and power plants started quickly, both became law in June against opposition from First Nations.
The province and the feds decided “to treat Indigenous rights as an issue to navigate around, and these bills do essentially exactly that,” said Fleming, an Attawapiskat First Nation member and PhD candidate at the University of Toronto.
“And so they fast-track those timelines and they prevent us from offering coherent decisions.”
First Nations are “relational people” with histories of decision-making through consultation with elders and the community, Fleming said.
But the logic of the build-faster legislation is based on more centralized decision-making to get shovels in the ground faster, he said.
Self-government is further undermined by Ontario making “little piecemeal deals with individual First Nations even though we’re sharing a treaty area,” he added.
“More specifically around the Ring of Fire — that’s why this is coming up.”
The Ring of Fire is a crescent-shaped area in northern Ontario that has huge deposits of chromite, nickel and other critical minerals. Eager to see mines started there, the province has made community partnership agreements with nearby First Nations.
The side deals “look like consent because (Ontario is) dealing with the Indigenous community, but there are many in that area and so they’re of many perspectives as well.”
The rules around decision-making in First Nations are changing because of the Bill 5s, he told an audience at the economic development conference.
And that, he said, has impacts on northern First Nations, “not just as communities affected by development, but as economic actors, as rights holders, as governors.”
The massive Bill 5, the Protect Ontario by Unleashing Our Economy Act, included a section allowing the provincial cabinet to create “special economic zones” to fast-track projects.
First Nations opposed the legislation, with Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) Grand Chief Fiddler terming its introduction “an assault on our rights, our treaties and our lands.”
It passed in the legislature and received royal assent to become law in early June 2025.
The federal Bill C-5, giving Ottawa the power to fast-track projects deemed “in the national interest,” became law in late June.
A written statement from NAN later in the summer said its First Nations “will not accept Bill 5 or Bill C-5 until we see commitment to securing free, prior, and informed consent about any activity by government or industry in our territories.”
In response, the press secretary for provincial Economic Development Minister Vic Fedeli said in an email to Newswatch that Ontario “is committed to fulfilling its Duty to Consult and providing opportunities for meaningful dialogue with Indigenous communities.”
By Mike Stimpson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Original Published on Feb 12, 2026 at 14:46
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