The Matawa First Nations chiefs have decided to end the Judicial Review litigation

The Matawa First Nations chiefs have decided to end the Judicial Review litigation that challenged the type of environmental assessment process being used for the Cliffs Chromite Project. The case was scheduled to be heard by the federal court in mid-September. This summer the government of Ontario began talks with the Matawa First Nations on the Ring of Fire. “We never wanted a judge to decide our future if we could avoid it,” said Chief Sonny Gagnon of Aroland First Nation. “Like we always said, we want to determine our own solutions, by negotiation.” He said at the time the court case was launched there was no negotiation table so” we were pushed into a corner. There’s a forum for discussions with Ontario now and it’s going to look at the environmental assessment question as well as other issues.” Talks with Ontario recently got underway with Bob Rae as the First Nations’ regional negotiator, and Frank Iacobucci as Ontario’s negotiator. It is anticipated that project proponents and the federal government will also be involved. The environmental assessment process is one of the issues up for discussion. Other issues include regional infrastructure, environmental monitoring, revenue sharing, and community development.