In June of 2021, the Ontario Sierra Club Chapter commenced the research project for the Regional Assessment of the Ring of Fire. The Ring of Fire research project was led by Sierra Club Ontario’s former Chapter Chair, Joseph Duncan; an Indigenous member from Treaty Nine Territory.
The Ring of Fire is 5,100 square kilometers and is situated in Northwestern Ontario, rich in mineral deposits, peat moss, caribou, and many other species essential to Indigenous nations, economy and culture. The Ring of Fire is home to the Indigenous people of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation, with a population of 45,000 on and off-reserve. The Treaty was established in 1905 and Treaty Nine was established with the Canadian and Ontario governments as a sovereign nation.
The research team initiated the project by focusing on environmental, ecological, and carbon footprints in the region. The team’s qualitative research has begun interviewing members in the Nishnawbe Aski Nation. Plans to visit the Ring of Fire site were scheduled throughout the summer of 2021.
The research also focused on the economic benefits of the project in the Region; disturbance of migration patterns of the caribou, geese, and long-term environmental consequences on Indigenous hunting and harvesting in the Nishnawbe Aski Nation from the Ring of Fire project. In addition, concerns about minimal consultation and misdirected information about the Ring of Fire project have developed skepticism among the Indigenous people in Nishnawbe Aski Nation Territory.
Ring of Fire Regional Assessment
The Sierra Club of Canada Foundation, Ontario Chapter also conducted the Regional Assessment research on the Ring of Fire Project. The assessment involved interviewing members from the Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) to understand their concerns and perspectives on the Ring of Fire.
The assessment concentrates on the social, environmental and economic impacts of the Ring of Fire Development Project in the Nishnawbe Aski Nation. The surveys and interviews held for this assessment can be found in the completed Ring of Fire Assessment.
Click here to read the complete Ring of Fire Assessment.
For more information:
- The need for a new Indigenous-led assessment via RAVEN
Ring of Fire Assessment: An Assessment of Reflections From the Members of Nishnawbe Aski Nation Territory
Posted on November 29, 2021
Please find the full Assessment Report attatched below.
By: Joseph Duncan and Aleksandra Spasevski.
In honour of Ringo Fiddler.
Ontario’s Far North recently received attention due to the $60 billion chromite mining potential. The massive mining project is known as the Ring of Fire. Both provincial and federal leaders have identified this mining opportunity as a multigenerational opportunity that can create both economic and societal benefits for communities (Chetkiewicz & Lintner, 2014).
Protecting The Hudson Bay Lowlands
Posted on November 19, 2021
By Dr John Bacher and Danny Beaton, Mohawk of the Turtle Clan.
In Memory of Alicja Rozanska.
National Geographic Magazine Identifies Hudson Bay Lowlands as Critical Protection Priority.
Attawapiskat Cree Fight De Beers’ Dump and Ring of Fire Mining
Posted on October 26, 2021
By Dr John Bacher and Danny Beaton, Mohawk of the Turtle Clan.
In Memory of Alicja Rozanska.
*Content warning: This post has mention of Residential Schools and cultural trauma.
Ontario Land Tribunal Dismissal of Riverfront Rezoning Case Sparks Request to Appeal to the Divisional Court
Posted on October 9, 2021
By Dr John Bacher and Danny Beaton, Mohawk of the Turtle Clan.
In Memory of Alicja Rozanska.
On September 17, 2021, the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) dismissed a zoning appeal by the Ontario Sierra Club Executive Committee Member, John Bacher. The Sierra Club Canada Foundation had separately sought standing as a participant in the case. On October 4, 2021, lawyers at Eric K. Gillespie Professional Corporation filed a motion for leave to appeal with the Divisional Court, the first step in asking the court to review the OLT decision.
All Party Consent for Ring of Fire Mining Shows Tragic Decline in Ontario Political Culture
Posted on September 28, 2021
By Dr John Bacher and Danny Beaton, Mohawk of the Turtle Clan.
In Memory of Alicja Rozanska.
Contemptuously, in the recent federal election there was an obscene amount of all party support to one of the most ecocidal threats to our planet. That threatened area is the Hudson Bay Lowlands, whose vast peat bogs perform a role more vital than ever before. It serves as a refrigerator for our planet which is under attack by anthropogenic climate change. These lowlands are the largest contiguous tract remaining of temperate wetlands on our sacred Mother Earth.
Ontario Ring of Fire Equivalent To Tar Sands of Alberta
Posted on April 27, 2021
By Dr John Bacher and Danny Beaton, Mohawk of the Turtle Clan.
In Memory of Alicja Rozanska.
Opposition to Ring of Fire Increases
Posted on July 28, 2020
As revelations mount about problems with mercury contamination from the now closed De Beers Victor Diamond Mine in Attawapiskat, opposition to proposed Ring of Fire mining projects soar. Claims by the Wildlands League that the company did not release the monitoring results for mercury contamination at 5 of 9 monitoring wells, received a boost on January 13, 2020, when Justice David A. Thomas ruled that these claims of violation of Ontario environmental laws could proceed to trial.