Ontario First Nations leaders reiterate opposition to Greenbelt land swap in unanimous vote

First Nations leaders from across Ontario are demanding the provincial government return environmental protections to land it recently removed from the Greenbelt to build housing.

The Chiefs of Ontario, an organization that advocates for 133 First Nations in the province, said it unanimously passed a resolution at an emergency meeting Monday opposing the so-called Greenbelt land swap.

In addition to returning the land to the Greenbelt, the resolution featured four other demands, including that Housing Minister Steve Clark resign or be removed.

Ontario Regional Chief Glen Hare, who is from the M'Chigeeng First Nation on Manitoulin Island, said First Nations weren't adequately consulted on the Greenbelt changes, despite the changes directly affecting their treaty and constitutionally protected rights.

"Planning decisions related to housing are foundational to how we live and live together,"  Hare said at a news conference following the meeting. "This requires all governments to work together in respect to treaty relationships and obligations."

Ontario created the Greenbelt in 2005 to protect agricultural and environmentally sensitive lands in the Greater Golden Horseshoe area from development. Last year, the province took 2,995 hectares of land on 15 sites out of the Greenbelt to build 50,000 homes and replaced it with about 3,00 acres elsewhere.

The chiefs' vote comes just weeks after Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk found the government's process for choosing which sites to remove favoured a small group of well-connected developers who now stand to make billions of dollars. The ensuing controversy prompted the resignation of the housing minister's chief of staff and triggered a potential RCMP investigation into the matter.

Lysyk's report also faulted the government for failing to consult with Indigenous communities before developing the Greenbelt policy.

The majority of the land removed from the Greenbelt is covered by multiple treaties with the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation and the 1923 Williams Treaties, of which seven other First Nations are party, according to Lysyk's report. Rights under those treaties include harvesting rights in certain areas, such as rights to hunt, fish, trap and gather.

Chief Laurie Carr of the Hiawatha First Nation, one of the signatories to the Williams Treaties, said removing land from the Greenbelt "directly interferes" with those rights.

The auditor general found that 83 per cent of the land removed is among the highest quality farmland in the province. About 400 acres of the removed land are wetlands or woodlands.

"This is not just a First Nation issue and it should be concerning to every Ontarian," Carr said. "There are many more areas to develop that don't touch on ... significant protected lands."

Chief Taynar Simpson of the Alderville First Nation, another signatory to the Williams Treaties, said the Greenbelt removals will damage water systems and wetlands that supply groundwater, reduce flood risks and improve climate resilience.

He said recent wildfires and severe flooding events should serve as a warning that wetlands need to be protected.