New research explores impact of Ring of Fire mining on First Nations in northern Ontario [Video]

A new research project is exploring the human rights impacts of mining operations on First Nations in the Ring of Fire — a vast mineral-rich area in northern Ontario.

The partnership, announced Wednesday, is between the Anishnawbe Business Professional Association (ABPA) and University of Toronto Faculty of Law’s international human rights program.

The research has already begun and is examining how mining companies are engaging with First Nations, with the goal of strengthening their policies on Indigenous relations and sustainability.

Jason Rasevych is a member of Ginoogaming First Nation and president of the ABPA.

“We’re looking at this as the business case for bringing, realizing reconciliation in a corporate framework and in the capital markets,” he said, “to say to companies, ‘This is what you could be doing or should be doing related to Indigenous First Nations-led input and this is how you can hold yourself accountable, and there’s value …