8th Fire Rising

In this 8th Fire Rising update, you can learn more about the Projects of National Interest (PONIs) announced by the federal government, as well as the resistance underway by Indigenous peoples and their allies.

In this Update:

• Meet the Megaprojects: some of the “fast-tracked” Projects of National Interest (PONIs) have been announced. What are they? We run them down.
• Resistance Rising: highlights from across the country.
• Bill 14 and 15 in B.C. and the RCMP: new piece in The Breach on how the unit that invaded Wet’suwet’en territory is primed to enforce these new bills
• What is Pierre Poilievre up to?

Meet the Megaprojects

(a.k.a. Projects of National Interest, PONIs)

On September 4, a list was leaked to the Globe and Mail of 32 potential Projects of National Interest (PONIs); the list has since been officially announced by the Prime Ministers’ Office (see below).

Another major announcement that has come down is that the Major Projects Office that will be overseeing the PONIs will be based in Calgary and overseen by energy executive Dawn Farrell, a former president and chief executive officer of Trans Mountain pipeline.

Meanwhile, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson is confident in the existence of a market for Canadian LNG, refusing to answer reporters’ questions about climate policy: “I know there are buyers.” There is currently one LNG export terminal in Kitimat, BC, and six more projects in the works, including the controversial Ksi Lisims project. If seven facilities were online, Canada would be shipping around 50 million tonnes of LNG annually.

The Five PONIs referred to the Major Projects Office

• Phase two of LNG Canada in Kitimat, B.C., doubling its production of liquefied natural gas
• The Darlington New Nuclear Project in Clarington, Ont., which will make small modular reactors
• Contrecoeur Terminal Container Project to expand the Port of Montreal
• The McIlvenna Bay Foran Copper Mine Project in Saskatchewan
• The expansion of the Red Chris Mine in northwestern B.C.

The weird thing is that most of these projects have been approved and some are half-built. What is going on?

The official press release from the Prime Ministers’ Office notes that the following projects could be next:

• Critical Minerals Strategy: including Ontario’s Ring of Fire.
• Wind West Atlantic Energy: a wind power project in Nova Scotia, and more long-term sustainable energy projects across Atlantic Canada.
• Pathways Plus: an Alberta-based carbon capture storage project and pipeline.
• Arctic Economic and Security Corridor: A port infrastructure project.
• Port of Churchill Plus: to expand export capacity in the North through Hudson Bay.
• Alto High-Speed Rail: high-speed railway from Toronto to Québec City.

We will have more analysis on all these projects in the coming weeks.

The full list of projects being considered obtained by the Globe and Mail include the following:

Port Projects:

• Contrecoeur port of Montreal (QC)
• Churchill port (MB)
• Upgrades to the Port of Saint John (NFLD)
• Port of Belledune in New Brunswick (NB)
• Construction of a deep-water port and all-season roads linking Yellowknife to the Arctic Ocean (NWT)
• Roberts Bank Terminal 2 Project at the Port of Vancouver (BC)

Mining Projects:

• Teck Strategic Minerals Initiative (BC)
• Red Chris Copper and Gold Mine expansion (BC)
• Foran McIlvenna Bay and Rook Uranium projects (SK)
• Minago Nickel Project (MB)
• Crawford Nickel Project (ON)
• Ring of Fire in Ontario (ON)
• Strange Lake Torngat Metals Ltd. rare earths mine (QC)

Energy Projects:

• 750-kilometre transmission line linking Yukon and B.C.
• LNG Canada Phase 2, which would expand the liquefied natural gas facility in Kitimat, B.C.
• Ksi Lisims LNG, backed by the Nisga’a Nation (BC)
• North Coast Transmission Line to power critical-mineral mines (BC)
• Dredging project at the Port of Vancouver that would accommodate fully loaded oil tankers in Burrard Inlet
• Northwest Coast Oil Pipeline (BC-AB)
• Carbon and Storage Project (Pathways Alliance, AB)
• Taltson Hydro Expansion (NWT)
• Iqaluit Hydroelectric Project (Nunavut)
• Darlington Nuclear Generating Station – new small modular reactors (ON)
• Gull Island Power Plant (Quebec-Newfoundland and Labrador new energy partnership)
• Transmission lines linking Prince Edward Island to the New Brunswick-Nova Scotia power grid
• Wind energy projects off the coast of Nova Scotia

Transportation Projects:

• Mackenzie Valley Highway project (NWT)
• Trans-Canada Highway proposals
• Rehabbing New Westminster Rail Bridge (BC)
• Alto High-Speed Rail project linking Toronto and Quebec City
• Western trade and economic corridor

Resistance Rising

• The National Farmers Union calls for border bill to be scrapped: “There’s very little clarification about how the new power is granted to immigration officials and even to ministers will affect the safety of Canada’s migrant workers. Given that migrant workers already face some extreme vulnerability. We’re very concerned that Bill C-2 has the potential to exacerbate those vulnerabilities and the abuse that migrant workers in Canada experience.”
• Blockades are still going up in Quebec against Bill 97 by the Atikamekw.
• Deputy Grand Chief Bobby Narcisse says there was a lot of discussion around the legislation formerly known as Bills 5 and C-5 at this year’s Keewaywin Conference
• ‘Time for action is now’; Mi’kmaq chiefs want to restart negotiations about on-reserve poverty seeing Bill C-5 as a distraction and a sudden shift in government priorities
• A really interesting survey conducted by Angus Reid in early August shows good support nationwide for Indigenous rights vis-a-vis the national projects of interest with one quarter agreeing that First Nations should have a veto if projects infringe on their territories.
• The Indigenous Friendship Centre in Sault Ste. Marie staged demonstrations against Bill C-5 and 5. See coverage here as well.
• Northern Ontario First Nations are building a village in the path to the Ring of Fire; (mostly) youth from Neskantaga First Nation and Attawapiskat First Nation are building a village on the Attawaikskat River near the proposed river crossing of the Ring of Fire mining road. They are documenting past evidence of Indigenous land use as well as environmental changes wrought by mining companies in the region.

• The Gitxsan and Gitanyow Chiefs and Youth are keeping up the Fire in protecting their lands. Along with the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs (UBCIC), doctors and nurses are challenging the BC and federal government to acknowledge the liquefied natural gas industry’s health impacts which disproportionately harm rural and Indigenous communities. As Carney is forcing all these projects through Indigenous lands it’s so crucial to know how these projects impact our bodies and health. That’s exactly what they are pushing this government for! Sign their open letter here. Speaking of which, BC just approved the Ksi Lisims LNG refinery.
• Ecojustice launched an action asking for C-5’s definition of national interest projects as “includes environmental protection and Indigenous rights criteria, and that the Building Canada Act cannot be used to fast-track harmful projects like oil pipelines or projects that devastate endangered species and their habitat.”
• Quebec environmental groups are suing Canada over Bill C-5. They have filed a lawsuit in the Quebec Superior Court challenging the validity of the law.
• Ontario announced $62 million in spending to build a road to the Ring of Fire in Ontario.
• Two Brave Indigenous women from Turtle Island have journeyed to join the Freedom Flotilla Coalition to break the siege on Gaza. Mskwassin Agnew Cree/Dene from Salt River First Nation born and raised in Toronto. Mskwassin is a Harm Reduction practitioner, organizer, and Land Defender also a part of 8th Fire Rising steering committee. Dr Suzanne Shoush Coast Salish/Sudanese Physician, organizer. To follow their journey on Social Media follow these accounts: @mskwassin_agnew @sailishcoast; @turtle.island2palestine; @torontoindigenousharmreduction @canadaboatgaza; @ha4palestine; @freedomflotillacoalition; and Dr. Suzanne Shoush on X (formally Twitter)

If you are planning an action, attending a rally, providing analysis, or want to share info, please email us at comms@8thfirerising.ca.

Controversial B.C. RCMP Unit to Police Opposition to “Fast-Tracked” Resource Projects

A widely-criticized police unit is participating in provincial committees coordinating surveillance and policing of protest against major resource projects—including those fast-tracked under new legislation. Read the story here, by Shiri Pasternak and Tia Dafnos.

Pierre “Hold my Beer” Poilievre

For Poilievre, none of this is fast enough, though! He called the PONI list “pathetic”, compared the PM to George Constanza—claiming that Carney spent a “Seinfeld summer” doing nothing—and has pledged to table the Canadian Sovereignty Act, which would “ensure two pipelines, a new LNG project and a road to Ontario’s Ring of Fire will have begun construction by March 14 [2026]—the one-year anniversary of Carney becoming prime minister.” Good luck, loser! What is even the difference between these guys at this point?