Dayna Nadine Scott | Fire in the Ring

Fire in the Ring | Settler Law and Indigenous Jurisdiction on an Extractive Frontier

Dayna Nadine Scott | Friday March 6, 2020 | 3-5PM | Sidney Smith Hall, Room 5017 | 100 St. George Street, Toronto, ON

Using the case of the much-hyped “Ring of Fire” mineral deposits in Ontario’s far north and the remote Anishinaabe communities with everything at stake in the decision of whether to “open up” their homelands to mining, I imagine a mode of relating for settler and Indigenous legal orders that is not inevitably colonial. Instead of collision and conflict, it is imagined as a plural legal order based on Treaty principles. To achieve it, we will need explicitly anti-colonial tactics – breaking down and working against the colonial structure of prevailing legal regimes designed to further extractivism by denying Indigenous jurisdiction. I will offer some inspiration from research collaborators on the ground in Neskantaga First Nation, in the heart of the Attawapiskat River watershed, who are lonely holdouts to the “Ring of Fire”– stubbornly clinging to a different notion of their people’s futures on the land, their legal obligations to protect it, and their political authority to decide.

Dayna Nadine Scott is cross-appointed between Osgoode Hall Law School and the Faculty of Environmental Studies at York. She was awarded the York Research Chair in Environmental Law & Justice in 2016. Prof Scott researches in the areas of resistance to extraction; the regulation of pollution; gender, toxics and environmental health. She is the PI on the current SSHRC-funded project, “Consent & Contract: Authorizing Extraction in Ontario’s Ring of Fire” and was also part of the SSHRC Partnership Development Grant, “Reconciling Sovereignties: New Techniques for ‘Authorizing’ Extraction on Indigenous Territories” led by Professor Shiri Pasternak, in partnership with the Indigenous Network on Economies and Trade (INET) and MiningWatch Canada.

Toronto is in the ‘Dish With One Spoon Territory’. The Dish With One Spoon is a treaty between the Anishinaabe, Mississaugas and Haudenosaunee that bound them to share the territory and protect the land. Subsequent Indigenous Nations and peoples, Europeans and all newcomers have been invited into this treaty in the spirit of peace, friendship and respect.

Sidney Smith Hall (100 St. George Street, Toronto, M5S3G3) is an accessible building, with a ramp located at the Huron Street entrance. Closest TTC locations: St. George and Spadina stations, the 510 Spadina streetcar at Harbord Street, and the 94 Wellesley/Ossington bus at St. George Street.

Intersections website event posting: https://intersectionstoronto.com/portfolio/dayna-nadine-scott/

Weekly Strike for Climate Justice

This Friday, January 31st, Fridays for Future Toronto will be demanding our federal government to reject TECK during our weekly strike. If the government chooses to go forward, this tar sands project will prevent Canada from reaching its Climate Emissions reductions targets (which we are already not on track to meet), destroy the habitat, and infringe on the rights of indigenous communities.

“The Teck Frontier is the largest open-pit tar sands mine ever proposed. If built, the Mine would be on Dene & Cree territory in Treaty No. 8 in an area with little to no industrial development. These lands and waters are home to one of the last existing, free-roaming, disease-free herds of wood bison. This area is also directly along the migration route for the only wild population of the endangered whooping crane, in close proximity to many of our communities, and 30 km from the boundary of UNESCO World Heritage site Wood Buffalo National Park— an area valued and protected for its cultural and biodiversity.” – Indigenous Climate Action
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Join us at Queen’s Park (South) to demand climate action! Bring your signs, family, and friends!

What are our demands?
We demand the the inclusion of historically disenfranchised voices in this necessary transition, the implementation of strong environmental protection policy and the setting of bold emissions reduction targets so that Canada reaches net zero emissions by 2040. We also demand a rapid implementation of the UNDRIP principles and for the federal government to uphold its promises to the Indigenous Peoples of Canada.

If you would like to speak, marshal, or have accessibility needs. Please contact us at [email protected]

Accessibility: The nearest TTC station is Queen’s Park Station on Line 1

For all of the demands please check the link below:
https://fridaysforfutureto.wixsite.com/fridaysforfutureto/about

Global Climate Strike for All Animals

Join a coalition of animal liberation groups at the upcoming Global Strike for Climate Justice in Toronto. We are showing up to (1) act in solidarity with the broader climate justice movements, (2) represent the nonhuman animals being mass killed and driven to extinction in climate catastrophes, and (3) demand an end to animal agriculture and industrial fishing and transition to sustainable plant-based food systems.

11:00-11:30: Meet at Fire Fighter Memorial
11:30: Head up to Queen’s Park for the rally
12:00: March together

Global Strike for Climate Justice

September 27th was only the beginning. 50 000 of you at least showed up for climate justice.

In the wake of the federal elections, it is crucial for us to hold our newly elected officials accountable to their electoral promises, and to push all levels of government to be more ambitious in their climate action.

On November 29th, be ready to strike, take the streets and mobilize to continue putting pressure on our governments.

Tentative plan:
11:00 Arrival of groups
Rally 11:30 sharp at Queens Park
March at 12:00 (Route tbd)