Grassy Narrows First Nation taking Ontario to court over Mining Act, lack of consultation on land claims

A First Nation in northwestern Ontario is taking the province to court over its Mining Act, arguing the free-entry system violates its constitutional rights.

Asubpeeschoseewagong Anishinabek, known as Grassy Narrows First Nation, has issued a notice of application in the Superior Court of Justice.

The legal action says the province's Mining Act does not require prospectors to consult with First Nations before staking claims on their traditional lands. It argues this breaches the First Nation's treaty rights under Sec. 35 of the Constitution and goes against the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

According to the notice of application obtained by CBC News, there are about 10,000 mining claims in Grassy Narrows's interim area of interest for mining, which covers more than 2,850 square kilometres — more than four times the size of the City of Toronto.

British Columbia saw a similar case in the fall, when the Supreme Court ruled the province's mining permit system was not in compliance with the government's duty to consult Indigenous groups.

Grassy Narrows is a leading member of the First Nations Land Defence Alliance. The alliance has held protests outside Toronto's Queen's Park, advocating for Ontario to respect their rights to free, prior and informed consent when it comes to development in their territories, including a proposed nuclear waste storage site near Ignace.

Earlier this week, Grassy Narrows appealed to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) to call for justice after decades of mercury poisoning, dating back to the 1960s and '70s — when the Dryden Paper Mill dumped an estimated nine tonnes of mercury into the English-Wabigoon river system.

The First Nation also filed a lawsuit last month against the Ontario and federal governments, arguing they have violated their duties under Treaty 3 by failing to protect against or remedy the effects of mercury contamination.

In April, chiefs from 10 Treaty 9 communities announced a lawsuit against the Ontario and federal governments that aims to fundamentally change the way resource and land management decisions are made in the region.

Grassy Narrows has had a long history of land defence efforts:

Represented by Toronto-based law firm Cavalluzzo LLP, Grassy Narrows is set to hold a news conference about its legal action on Friday morning at Queen's Park. 

Under Ontario's free-entry system, prospectors are allowed to register claims online for a small fee, without having to travel on the land and physically make a claim.

The convenience of staking claims online has made it difficult for many First Nations to keep up with what Cat Lake First Nation's chief calls a "barrage" of mining claims.

CBC News reached out to Greg Rickford, who is both Ontario's minister of Indigenous affairs and First Nations economic reconciliation, and minister of northern development, for comment. This story will be updated once a response is received.