Originally published in Toronto Star
26 February 2020
The roads that will be built to access mining in Ontario’s pristine far north can dramatically reshape an entire region and understanding these consequences is vital if we want to sustain nature’s services, the Indigenous communities that depend on them, and the benefits they provide to all Ontarians.
The current wave of protests in support of the Wet’suwet’en is about respecting Indigenous rights, but also about responsibility — our collective responsibility to protect increasingly endangered ecosystems and some of Canada’s most intact natural areas.
Failing to consider the value of such areas — for people, for biodiversity, and for our climate — before making development decisions is increasingly leading to conflict.
We are on the cusp of a similar situation in Ontario, where plans to build roads to the Ring of Fire in the far north are being pursued in a way that similarly ignores the big picture.
Wildlife Conservation Society Canada to release information hub on the largest peatland in North America
A growing demand for “critical minerals” may put one of the largest carbon sinks in the world at risk. A new hub will look at all the values at play in the Ring of Fire in Canada.
Scratch that: Feds to rethink Ring of Fire environmental assessment after First Nations criticism
‘There is no access to critical minerals in Canada without Indigenous Peoples being at the table in a decision-making position,’ Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said
Protecting peatlands pivotal for climate and biodiversity goals, scientists say
Facing down governments and industry, this First Nation makes a promise: There’ll be no development in the Ring of Fire without its consent