Sol Mamakwa

The Ford government is fast-tracking Ring of Fire mining and road construction through its Bill 5 "One Project, One Process" system, overriding the objections of Grassy Narrows First Nation — a community still living with mercury poisoning — bypassing a federally required environmental assessment, and pushing toward a June 2026 construction start that Neskantaga and Attawapiskat First Nations are physically blockading.

As the legislature's only First Nations MPP, Mamakwa called Ford's "hat in hand" comments racist and has been the primary opposition voice on how Bill 5's Ring of Fire fast-track violates Indigenous rights and the duty to consult.

Days after a coroner's inquest into the death of Kevin Mamakwa — a 27-year-old from Kingfisher Lake First Nation who died by suicide in the Thunder Bay District Jail — concluded with 22 recommendations and the jail being called a "death trap," Premier Doug Ford disparaged the province's own new ~$1.2-billion Thunder Bay Correctional Complex as a "fancy-dancey jail," comparing it to "the Four Seasons hotel" and refusing to commit to closing the century-old jail where nine people have died since 2002.

NDP MPP for Kiiwetinoong and Kevin Mamakwa's uncle. He responded that Ford's comments mean "his thought is that we do not deserve anything good. We do not deserve anything nice," called the jail "a death trap" that "needs to go," and said it should have been closed after his nephew's death. He has renewed his call to permanently close the Thunder Bay District Jail.