Ontario Pipeline Corridor Proposal Faces Pushback Over Lack of Indigenous Consultation, Environmental Risks

A group representing seven First Nations in northern Ontario says the province’s push for a cross-country pipeline is moving ahead without their voices and is in conflict with federally funded conservation work already underway.

If approved, the East-West Canadian Energy Corridor would carry oil and gas from Alberta to refineries in southern Ontario.

But Lawrence Martin, lands and resources director for the Mushkegowuk Council, is frustrated that the province has not yet met with the council or the seven First Nation communities it represents, even though projects are being proposed on their territory along the James Bay coast.

“It’s as if we’re invisible throughout this whole discussion, everything that’s happening in the territory on the land or on the water. So it’s quite amazing,” Martin said.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said the corridor is a nation-building project meant to strengthen energy security and boost exports, in part to respond to U.S. economic threats such as tariffs.

The province also wants to explore the idea of new port outlets on James Bay, Hudson Bay and the Great Lakes, according to a news release this month. It has tied the proposed project to its broader push for critical mineral development in the north, and its effort to position the province as a hub for energy and manufacturing.