A controversial bill in Ontario has now become law. It gives the cabinet of Premier Doug Ford the power to create special economic zones where certain projects would be exempt from provincial regulations. Ford’s Conservatives have a majority in the Ontario Legislature, so getting the bill passed wasn’t difficult. However, the bill still met very vocal opposition.
That criticism is coming from opposition parties, environmental groups and Indigenous leaders. But Doug Ford said Bill 5 is urgently needed in the face of the trade war initiated by U.S. President Donald Trump.
“The people of this province gave us a huge mandate to move forward, to compete against President Trump. He has called an economic war. He wants to take our jobs. He wants to take our businesses,” Ford said.
Bill 5, also known as the Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act, amends several existing laws and creates new ones. It also creates special economic zones. Those allow major infrastructure and resource projects such as critical mineral extraction, to move along much faster by eliminating duplication in the approval process.
It would also halve the time of permits for new mines. Here’s Stephen Lecce, Ontario’s minister of energy and mines.
“That is a significant reduction. It will be amongst the fastest permitting regimes in the industrialized democratic world,” Lecce said.
However, there is widespread pushback from environmental groups and First Nations. Linda Debassigee is the Grand Chief of the Anishinabek Nation.....
“We are disappointed and very concerned that Ontario has proceeded in the way it has without any meaningful consultation, engagement and accommodation to our First Nations,” Debassigee said. “Bill 5 can be viewed as circumventing protections that are seen as impediments or obstacles to development and furthering the colonial regimes of old and the continued disregard for the treaty relationships. I caution you not to sell out our First Nation rights, heritage and history in your frenzied attempts to appease the US president, unleash our natural resources and establish a foothold in the global economy.”
But Ontario’s Indigenous Affairs Minister Greg Rickford says there will be consultations with Indigenous groups – after Bill 5 is passed.
“In no way does Bill 5 infringe on treaty rights or compromise the duty to consult. And in no way, shape or form do we consider the duty to consult, red tape,” Rickford said.
But that doesn’t sit well with some Native leaders, such as Anishinabek Regional Chief Scott Mcleod.
“Good relations and honor are reached by sitting down with first nations and speaking to us before any legislation is developed, not after,” Mcleod said.
But still, the mining minister, Lecce, is defending the bill and the process.
“The environment must be protected. But so too must our economic interests of the province. And I will reject as some will try to make it seem that we’ve got to pick a lane. We pick both,” Lecce said.
With the provincial cabinet now able to designate any location in the province a special economic zone, the question now is where that might happen, and how quickly the Ford government will use Bill 5.
