Five Anishinaabeg Treaty Nations in southwestern Ontario are calling on the federal and provincial governments to recognize Treaty rights and Treaty-based jurisdiction before any further work proceeds on the proposed Northern Shield Energy Corridor.
In a statement issued Thursday, Aamjiwnaang First Nation, Caldwell First Nation, Deshkan Ziibiing (Chippewas of the Thames First Nation), Kettle and Stony Point First Nation, and Bkejwanong (Walpole Island First Nation) said discussions about the corridor must go beyond project consultation and procedural engagement. The nations, who describe themselves as the Anishinaabeg Treaty Nations of the Waawayaatanong, said the lands of southwestern Ontario remain governed by living Treaties that define the nation-to-nation relationship between the Crown and the Anishinaabeg.
The statement identifies the nations as signatories to, and successors of, several foundational Treaties in the region, including the McKee, London Township, Sombra, Longwoods and Amherstburg Treaties, negotiated between 1790 and 1827. Those agreements, the nations said, established enduring government-to-government relationships grounded in kinship, diplomacy and shared stewardship of the lands, waters and airways, and were never intended to diminish Anishinaabeg responsibilities to the land or the obligations owed to future generations. The nations argue the Treaties continue to shape and guide Crown and Treaty Nation decision-making today, and are not, in their words, artifacts of history.
The statement said the Crown must not advance planning, feasibility work, financial commitments, route analyses or negotiations with industry proponents without the direction and involvement of Treaty Nations, warning that any unilateral advancement would constitute a breach of Treaty obligations and the honour of the Crown. The nations said Treaty rights are protected under section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982, and that the honour of the Crown requires meaningful engagement with Treaty rights holders before, rather than after, decisions affecting Treaty territories are made.
The nations also pointed to Canada’s passage of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act on June 21, 2021, which formally incorporated the declaration into domestic law. That legislation, the statement said, requires the federal government to take all necessary measures to ensure its laws, policies and decision-making processes are consistent with the declaration, affirms the right of Indigenous peoples to participate meaningfully in decisions affecting their lands, territories and resources, and establishes a federal obligation to obtain free, prior and informed consent in matters that directly affect those rights.
The statement said a Treaty rights-based approach requires the completion of a Treaty Rights Impact Assessment, carried out jointly with the Treaty Nations, to evaluate potential effects on Treaty rights, lands, waters, air, and relational and cultural responsibilities, as well as cumulative effects across all affected Treaty territories.
Among their requests, the Treaty Nations are asking Ottawa and Queen’s Park to recognize them as Treaty partners in discussions on major infrastructure affecting southwestern Ontario and to work directly with each nation on how that engagement should take shape. They are calling for engagement at the earliest possible stage of planning, before any internal approvals, feasibility studies, financial commitments or long-term arrangements are advanced, so that Nation governments can help shape a project’s direction, scope and terms from the outset rather than reacting to plans already formed. The statement said this would create what the nations describe as a true free, prior and informed consent environment, in which Treaty partners exercise jurisdiction and determine whether and how a project proceeds.
The nations are also seeking the establishment of a Nation-to-Nation Northern Shield Governance Table to guide planning, decision-making and implementation, including cumulative impact assessment, environmental stewardship, land use planning and long-term infrastructure governance. They want Canada to demonstrate how its commitments under the UNDRIP Act are being applied to the corridor specifically, including how free, prior and informed consent and shared decision-making are being put into practice. The statement calls for Indigenous economic participation that reflects Treaty implementation and economic reconciliation, covering procurement, employment, business development, equity participation, revenue-sharing and long-term ownership opportunities, along with full transparency and disclosure of existing analyses, feasibility studies and route assessments related to the corridor. The nations are also asking for enduring government-to-government processes covering land use planning, environmental stewardship, infrastructure development and regional economic initiatives affecting Treaty territories.
The statement noted that the proposed corridor extends beyond southwestern Ontario and could affect Treaty Nations across the country, and called for a consistent, rights-based framework that respects the unique Treaty relationships within each territory wherever the project may proceed. The Waawayaatanong Treaty Nations said they will continue working with other Treaty Nations to keep Treaty rights central to major infrastructure discussions and to press the Crown to fulfill its obligations under the Treaties, section 35 of the Constitution Act, and the UNDRIP Act.
