Toronto-Nine Ontario Representing the first nations say that they are starting a constitutional challenge against the provincial and federal laws, which means rapid track infrastructure projects that indigenous communities say that their rights are violated.
The details of the legal challenge have not been made public yet, but lawyers say they will reveal more at a press conference on Wednesday.
The Federal Bill C -5 allows the Cabinet to give federal approval for large industrial projects such as mines, ports and pipelines bypassing existing laws, while Ontario’s bill allows its cabinet to suspend provincial and municipal laws through the construction of so -called “special economic areas”.
Atwapiscat First Nation’s chief Silvia CostChin-Metatavbin, one of the communities involved in the legal challenge, says in a press release that governments are playing a dangerous game with their people’s land and their futures.
Temes’s Vanda Nation Chief Todd Cornelius says that the first nation in the challenge is not against all development, but is a fight between “negligent doing things and correcting things”.
Both federal and Ontario governments have stated that their laws are tools to combat US President Donald Trump’s tariffs, which allow Canadian development, such as natural resource development, such as natural resource development, and allowing them to move faster.
This report of Canadian Press was first published on 15 July 2025.
Elison Jones, Canadian Press
