By Dryden Observer Staff

The chiefs of nine First Nations communities in the vicinity of the proposed Ring of Fire mining development have withdrawn their support for the project over concerns about the environmental assessment process.

The Matawa Chiefs made their announcement after the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA) announced it would proceed with a Comprehensive Study Environmental Assessment — the kind of process usually invoked for large oil and natural gas developments, nuclear power developments, electrical-generation projects, industrial plants and certain projects in national parks and others.

But the Matawa Chiefs are demanding nothing short of a Joint Review Panel process — wherein a group of experts is selected by the Minister of the Environment to study the issue and make recommendations to the levels of government involved.

Marten Falls First Nation Chief Eli Moonias says the Matawa Chiefs are trying to avoid a repeat of the negative impact of the Oil Sands developments, where he says First Nations along the Athabasca River were not meaningfully consulted.

“We need a government-to- government dialogue here,” said Moonias. “Visits from junior ministerial representatives telling us what is happening instead of asking us how we want to participate is not consultation or accommodation. Government departments and ministries are not listening to us. Cliffs is already advertising its inappropriate consultation schedule, and the CEAA posted its public invitation to comment with a map of Northern Ontario that makes it look like no one lives near these projects. The map didn’t have a single First Nation community on it! We aren’t even on their radar. That is offensive to our people. That is exactly the way government views the people who live where these developments are happening, like we don’t exist.”