The agreement comes with up to $39.5 million, matching the amount promised to Webequie First Nation through an agreement it signed with the province last month. The province also signed a shared prosperity agreement with Aroland First Nation in January. Premier Doug Ford says unlocking critical minerals in the Ring of Fire a crescent-shaped mineral deposit in the James Bay lowlands in northwestern Ontario will add $22 billion to Canada's economy and create 70,000 new jobs.
"Carney recently named the first five projects in the national interest that will be fast-tracked, which is intended to strengthen the country's economy, particularly in the face of U.S. tariffs. One Ontario project was on the initial list building small modular nuclear reactors and Ford said Tuesday that accessing the province's critical mineral-rich Ring of Fire region will be in the next set of projects. It received a nod in Carney's announcement, along with energy, high-speed rail and port projects, suggesting the federal government will indeed work with provinces to bring those to fruition down the line."
The 8.8 magnitude quake, followed by multiple aftershocks as strong as magnitude 6, appears to have reawakened long-dormant giants. Klyuchevskaya Sopka erupted a day after the seismic event for the first time in 600 years.
"We do not stand with Ontario in support of Bill 5," Gagnon said in a statement. "We do stand in support of the other First Nations in Ontario who are opposed to Bill 5 and working to have it thrown out."