The Ontario government is once again violating the rights and sovereignty of Grassy Narrows First Nation and threatening their lands and way of life.
Breaking its own rules, the Ford government granted eight new mining permits to three companies on Grassy Narrows territory without consulting, or even notifying, the community. Ontario is also considering a ten-year plan to allow more industrial logging on Grassy Narrows land.
These violations would compound the harm that mercury, clear-cut logging, hydro dams, and residential schools have already done to the lives and lands of those in Grassy Narrows.
Tell Doug Ford: Withdraw all mining and logging from Grassy Narrows Territory now!
In 2018, Grassy Narrows enacted a Land Declaration, enshrining into their law a ban on all mineral staking, exploration, mining, and logging in their territory. The First Nation is protecting their territory so that their people will never again be poisoned, and so that they can heal from the damage that mercury has done to their health, way of life, and environment.
Grassy Narrows must be allowed to rebuild their community without these continued attacks on their sovereignty, their lands, and their rights to self-determination. Their territory must be restored, not further degraded. The ongoing threat from mining and logging compounds the historical harms the people of Grassy Narrows have already endured.
There can be no reconciliation and no justice while our governments continue to encourage and approve industrial activity on Grassy Narrows territory.
