In early June, the Ontario government passed Bill 5, which enables the creation of “special economic zones” where infrastructure and resource projects can be exempted from provincial laws and regulations. Later that month, the federal government passed the similar Bill C5, allowing Ottawa to bypass existing federal laws for projects it deems to be in the national interest. Both governments say their bills are necessary to accelerate development, such as the extraction of critical minerals in Northern Ontario’s Ring of Fire region, and bolster Canada’s economic resilience – especially in the face of U.S. tariffs from the Trump administration. But the new federal and provincial powers have triggered protests and a constitutional challenge by First Nations groups, who argue the bills undermine the Crown's duty to consult and accommodate communities for activities that affect their traditional territories. This roundtable of scholars will discuss the socio-legal implications of the bills for the extraction of critical minerals on or near treaty lands.

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