US war machine wants to rip minerals from indigenous Canadian land

The US war machine is desperate to siphon vital minerals from indigenous lands in Canada. Instead of resisting, Canada’s Liberal government seems to be going along with it — seeking to deescalate tensions with its aggro southern neighbour.

US extractivism targets Canada

A new essay by the Transition Security Project (TSC), published on 18 May, maps the shifting terrain of resource extraction. US interest in Canadian minerals for military use is nothing new — but the Trump administration’s methods for securing them are. Crucially, these minerals are a point of tension in Canada.

The TSC reported:

Rather than relying primarily on indirect tools such as subsidies or loans, the Pentagon has begun purchasing direct ownership stakes in Canadian mining companies, an approach that extends US state influence more directly into the private market.

The minerals include nickel, copper, chromium, tungsten and rare earth elements — all of which are deeply connected to Canada’s economy and livelihood.

As the report notes, this comes at a time when the:

the US escalates yet another illegal war in West Asia and continues its Cold War rivalry with China.

And as:

 Canada tries to claim economic independence from its aggressive southern neighbour.

The TSC further reports that:

the Pentagon’s unprecedented investment strategy could have significant effects on the Canadian critical mineral industry — shaping where, why and for whom those minerals are produced.

Earlier this year, the Canary reported on a clash between Canadian PM Mark Carney and US president Donald Trump at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Trump’s belligerent stance on control of the hemisphere has alarmed many governments in the Americas — making Canada’s sudden shift all the more embarrassing.

Carney — the austerity-era head of the Bank of England — is no angel himself. He has talked the talk on Trump, but continues to sell arms to Israel, and has maintained his hawkish stance on Iran. Think Keir Starmer in snowshoes, but a considerably more polished public speaker.

The Ring of Fire

There is a striking parallel here. Colonialism in Palestine, Canada, and the US involves not just militarism, but also enclosure and expropriation. And indigenous Canadians are still paying for the ambitions of empire, old and new.

US mineral interests centre on the so-called Ring of Fire:

a 5,000-km² mineral-rich region in the peatlands of northern Ontario which is often cast as the engine of a Canadian clean-tech boom comprising electric vehicles, battery supply chains, new jobs and new roads.

As TSC has it:

a growing body of evidence suggests a very different future for these minerals. While both the federal and provincial governments have framed the Ring of Fire as essential to climate policy, the US increasingly views the Canadian sub-arctic as a stable source of the inputs it seeks for its military industries — both Canada’s and Ontario’s leaderships now appear eager to align itself with that demand.

But whose land is it anyway? TSC explains, this ring of fire is:

already at the centre of a decades-long conflict over land rights, infrastructure development and government neglect […] Several of the First Nations whose homelands fall within the proposed mining zone have never consented to the mining activity being planned on their lands.

And there’s a strong element of underhandedness from the US and Canadian governments:

As the US and Canada tout “ethical” mineral supply chains, these communities face the greatest consequences of turning northern extraction into a matter of military expansion.

It’s important to remember broadly speaking that there are three Canadas: British, French and indigenous.

The latter group — which is made up of First Nations, Inuit and Metis people — have fought a centuries-long series of battles to hold, retain, and recover their stolen land.

The continuum of genocide

This fight, in which the US and Canadian governments are looking to continue predatory colonial practices, is just the latest. In the context of Canada, the ongoing continuum of exploitation cannot be glossed over.

TSC said:

In 2025, when First Nations stood against these incursions on their lands, they were met with Ottawa’s new “fast tracking” legislation — designed to accelerate mining projects under the banner of “national security” and “national defence” while also potentially diverting minerals towards Pentagon stockpiles.

They added:

Given that the Pentagon is the single largest institutional producer of greenhouse gas emissions globally, First Nations have a right to ask: are their lands being developed to power climate solutions — or to feed a military that is driving the environment to collapse?

And TSC warned that as the Canadian mining sector becomes “more tightly integrated into the US foreign policy agenda”:

it raises deeper questions about transparency, control and autonomy — particularly when it remains unclear to Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians alike where these materials ultimately end up and who determines their use.

Wolastoqey National Grand Chief Ron Tremblay said:

that should the tungsten deposit located on his peoples’ traditional territory be developed into a mine, it would become a direct contributor to the “continuum of genocide” occurring in Gaza and the West Bank.

In case these colonial connections are not clear enough, it is almost certain that Canadian minerals are used to produce US weapons which end up being used by Israel. This multi-layered, global story of genocide and generational displacement should never be skipped over. When we talk about the plight of indigenous people — whether in the Americas, Palestine, or elsewhere — we should name the extractive, capitalistic processes which both connect their struggles and dispossess them of their land.

Featured image via the Canary

By Joe Glenton

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