Courtroom to community: Reconciliation means amplifying access to justice, Indigenous voices

Law360 Canada (March 9, 2026, 3:11 PM EDT) --

Kerrie Blaise

“Canada’s adoption of the UNDRIP into Canadian law via the UNDA must mean more than a status quo application of the section 35 framework,” wrote Justice Julie Blackhawk in the seminal Kebaowek First Nation v. CNL federal court case (Kebaowek First Nation v. Canadian Nuclear Laboratories, [2025] F.C.J. No. 300). For the Indigenous grassroot leaders and youth seeking to intervene in the constitutional challenge to the provincial government’s Bill 5 that was passed in June 2025, this revisioning of the status quo remains a live issue.

Michel Koostachin and Ramon Kataquapit are seeking to intervene in the constitutional challenge of Bills 5 and C-5 being brought by 14 First Nations. Among their arguments is that (1) the province acted in a manner fundamentally inconsistent with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP); and (2), that proceeding with massive, extractive mining projects without committing to obtaining their free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) means the province is in breach of constitutional and international obligations. 

The Hudson-James Bay Lowlands, home to the Omushkego people in Treaty 9 territory, is one of the last refuges on the planet for intact peatlands, clean water and untouched boreal forest. The sheer vastness and significance of this place can only be surpassed by one thing: the scale and size of the threat the region now faces due to the proposed Ring of Fire. Disturbing this landscape — where peatlands represent just three per cent of the world’s surface but store two times as much carbon as all the world’s forests combined — risks turning a globally significant carbon sink into a massive source of emissions.

As the “water people,” the identity of the local Cree people is inseparable from these lands — where rivers run underground and the tide from James Bay travels far inland. With more than 40,000 mining claims having been staked — without consultation or consent — and 500 kilometres of road proposed into this region dubbed the Ring of Fire, these land protectors are challenging the status quo. They are asserting that doctrine of reconciliation, which seeks to reconcile the pre-existence of Indigenous societies with the imposition of Crown sovereignty, necessarily includes consideration of Indigenous Natural Law.

Despite the scale of the Ring of Fire, breaches to the most basic of procedural rights — to know and have a say — are systemically barred. For instance, there is no federal impact assessment for any of the proposed mining projects in the Ring of Fire, despite their size and the highly sensitive ecosystem where they are proposed. Protections for cultural sovereignty and species have also been stripped away with Bill 5, risking the protection of sacred sites and artifacts and a region that serves as a nursery for biodiversity, supporting threatened species like woodland caribou, wolverine, sturgeon and countless migratory birds​.

It is precisely these issues that will be discussed at an upcoming gathering in Moose Factory taking place March 11, focused on a shared responsibility to protect the land, the waters and all relations. All are welcome.

From the courtroom to the community, we have witnessed Ontario’s impoverished vision of its reconciliation obligations. Their failure to enable the accessible and meaningful participation of Indigenous grassroot voices and youth — despite best efforts by these groups to engage in the legislative process — underscores the critical need for access to justice, so that the voices of those most directly impacted — which includes the Indigenous grassroots and youth — do not go unheard.

As Indigenous grassroot leader from Attawapiskat Michel Koostachin has repeatedly shared, “Our Natural Laws teach us to respect the land and to maintain our relationship with the Creator. Our traditional ways do not involve greed or violence to these lands, but love, harmony and an ongoing commitment to each other.”

Kerrie Blaise is an environmental lawyer living in Robinson Huron treaty territory. She is the founder of Legal Advocates for Nature’s Defence, a non-profit dedicated to advancing access to justice in northern Ontario, to protect nature and Indigenous rights. The author would like to acknowledge the assistance of Michel Koostachin in the preparation of this article.

The opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the author’s firm, its clients, Law360 Canada, LexisNexis Canada or any of its or their respective affiliates. This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal advice.

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