I applaud the decision made…

I applaud the decision made by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation, and Parks regarding Indigenous communities which are involved in land claims to be exempted from the current EA requirements related to acquiring lands. Reducing these current restrictions will allow Ontario to return the ancestral lands of First Nations in a timelier manner, which ultimately makes this a step in the right direction towards reconciliation.

As BNA has a Land Code in place, and has a robust Environmental Management Plan in the process of being implemented on its reserve lands, you can be assured that environmental sustainability on our lands and in the surrounding territory is of utmost importance to both myself and our membership. We understand that when projects are planned, they will be subject to the appropriate levels of environmental assessment. Reducing these regulations is a logical step to reduce the administrative and technical burden on both my staff and the staff involved from multiple government agencies. Currently, land claims can take years to settle. By removing the unnecessary requirement for an environmental assessment when there is no development or resource extraction taking place frees up valuable time and energy, which can be placed into the actual settlement of these long-standing claims. Having the land claim process proceed more quickly will have a positive impact on my community, as well as those of our neighbouring communities, so that we can have the associated benefits of acquiring our land hopefully much sooner.

As a community currently involved in a land claim, we would be willing to work with the Negotiations & Reconciliation Division (NRD) of the Ministry of Indigenous Affairs to improve this process, as well as provide further input as required.

We thank you for the opportunity to comment on this important process.

Sincerely,

Chief Joe Ladouceur
Bingwi Neyaashi Anishinaabek