Ontario Premier Dismisses Indigenous Communities’ Opposing His Critical Minerals Plan: Just a Few Making Noise

EXCERPT:

FORD: “Well, there's a few of them and not a lot of them, but I've had a great relationship with all the Indigenous communities. We're putting $3 billion in the window until they can get grants and have equity partnerships. We're giving them $70 million of training and skills development, $10 million with the scholarships. And don't kid yourself, there's a tremendous amount of chiefs out there that want to move forward, they want to be progressive, they want their kids to have a better life than they had. And there's always going to be respect for their treaty rights and there's always going to be duty to consult. They know it, everyone knows it and that's why a recent poll came out, 73 percent of the people in Ontario want to move forward with it. But it will move forward with consultation with our First Nations communities. There's a few that's making noise, but the vast majority you watch, they'll be full steam ahead and we're going to work collaboratively with our First Nations communities.”