What’s Actually Happening in the Ring of Fire?
What’s Actually Happening in the Ring of Fire?
Student Research Symposium with land defenders from Neskantaga First Nation, Attawapiskat First Nation and 8th Fire Rising
Hosted by the Environmental Justice & Sustainability Clinic
March 5, 2026, 10:00-2:00 (Lunch is provided)
Osgoode Hall Law School, Helliwell Center
Please RSVP by clicking here: What’s Actually Happening in the Ring of Fire?
This symposium of student research and community presentations will try to make sense of the rapidly changing regulatory landscape across the Indigenous homelands of Treaty No.9.
We will present research on the environmental and impact assessments for the Ring of Fire roads, the ongoing Regional Assessment, the likelihood and consequences of a possible designation of the Ring of Fire as a Project in the National Interest (PONI) or a “Special Economic Zone” (SEZ), and the wide sweeping impacts on both Indigenous self-determination and democratic rights of the onslaught of “fast-tracking” legislation.
Leaders, land defenders and community members from Neskantaga First Nation and Attawapiskat First Nation will describe the Here We Stand camp they have set up on the Attawapiskat River, at the proposed crossing site for the mining road, their ongoing land defence actions, and will participate in a Q&A session.
Introductions: 10am
Panel 1 – 10:15am-11:15am: The Proposed Mines, Environmental Impacts, the Roads and the Regional Assessment
- Presentations by
- Professor Dayna Nadine Scott
- James Bird, J.D. Candidate
- Skye Baylis, J.D. Candidate
Panel 2 – 11:30-12:30pm: Bill 5 & “Special Economic Zones”, Bill C-5 and “Projects in the National Interest”, and Legal Challenges
- Presentations by
- Will Hanlon, J.D. Candidate
- Ally Manzie, J.D. Candidate
- Alexandra Rufo, J.D. Candidate
(Lunch Provided – 12:30pm-1pm)
Panel 3 – 1:00pm-2:00pm: Land Defence Panel
- Presentations by
- Representatives from Neskantaga First Nation: Chief Gary Quisess, Coleen Moonias, Wayne Moonias
- Nessie Nankivell, PhD Candidate, University of Toronto Geography and Planning
- Youth Land Defenders from Attawapiskat First Nation: Jeronimo Kataquapit and Ramon Kataquapit
- Eve Saint, co-founder, 8th Fire Rising
