Oneida Nation of the Thames Chief Todd Cornelius had hoped that the days of Canadian governments passing laws that affect Indigenous communities without consulting them were in the past.

Then Ontario's Bill 5 happened.

Cornelius said the sweeping bill — which became law Thursday — violates signed treaty provisions that requires consultations with Indigenous groups, he wrote in a statement released Wednesday.

"This is not only a political failure, it is a betrayal of the relationship between the Crown and our Nation," said Cornelius.

Passing the bill without sufficient consultation amounts to the Ontario government breaking the series of agreements the Haudenosaunee (also known as the Six Nations and Iroquois League) signed with the Crown prior to Confederation, known as the Silver Cove

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