Six First Nations from northern Ontario have initiated a lawsuit against the province, challenging Ontario’s Mining Act. They argue that the legislation infringes upon their treaty and equality rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The core issue is that the Ontario Mining Act permits prospectors and mining companies to stake claims on Crown lands, including traditional Indigenous territories, without prior consultation, enabled by a digital claim-staking process launched in 2018.
The First Nations communities leading this challenge include the Apitipi Anicinapek Nation, Aroland First Nation, Attawapiskat First Nation, Fort Albany First Nation, Ginoogaming First Nation, and Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug. The application calls for amendments to the legislation and for the voiding of all pending claims without permits. As Chief June Black of the Apitipi Anicinapek First Nation remarked, “The Ontario Mining Act is a piece of racist legislation that bulldozes over First Nations lands and rights. These are not your lands to give away, Ontario.”
This legal action occurs amid Ontario’s mining exploration boom, driven by the government’s focus on critical minerals extraction for the electric vehicle sector, notably lithium in the Ring of Fire region. Presently, approximately 2000 active land claims are registered in the Ontario Mining Lands Administration System.
The lawsuit mirrors similar litigation like the 2023 decision by the British Columbia Supreme Court, which found that the province’s mineral claim system violated Indigenous rights and required incorporation of Indigenous consultation. Further, the Grassy Narrows First Nation also filed a similar lawsuit in July 2024, seeking to have the Mining Act declared unconstitutional.