Ford should scrap Bill 5 to keep Ontario a place to live and a place to grow

The controversial Protect Ontario by Unleashing Our Economy Act, Bill 5, rushed into law June 5, awaits its first tests when legislative business resumes in September. Coalitions opposing Bill 5 have made their objections known to the Ford government regarding its override of municipal laws, and brushing off science-backed, citizen-supported environmental protections and Indigenous objections.

Bill 5 stripped down several environmental laws that preserve clean and resilient nature systems, eviscerated species at risk protections, amended the Energy Board Act, Heritage Act, Rebuilding Ontario Place Act, and Mining Act. It also armed government ministers with power to declare special economic zones (SEZs), permitting their unaccountable choice of development projects deemed best for Ontario’s future. No due regard for social and environmental consequences needs to be applied.

Two social and environmental impact projects where Bill 5 overrides may apply are already destined for public opposition: the Dresden Landfill, an industrial waste dump slated for southwestern Ontario’s farm belt; and the Ring of Fire area in northern Ontario, home to many Indigenous communities and potential repository of critical minerals for mining.

Under Bill 5, the landfill project will skirt an environmental assessment (EA). Since the EA process could provide clarity and mitigation strategies against potential for explosions due to geological instability; contamination threat to nearby Sydenham River and species at risk; and disruption to farmland and aquifer recharging, one wonders what sense it makes to override normal legislated cautions? Is the corporate wealth generated from probable contamination, noise and increased air pollution’s health effects worth foisting onto future generations?

In Premier Doug Ford’s hurry to register any kind of political “win”, his majority government bulldozed Bill 5 through parliament with little regard for inclusion of those affected by mine development in the Ring of Fire. After-the-fact promises to consult First Nations sound hollow next to Bill 5’s back-pocket exemptions if things don’t go Ford-fast or his cabinet’s way.

Free, prior and informed consent from First Nations takes government good will and respect for Indigenous concerns. This provincial government’s short-shrift of both could cause unnecessary backlash and delay development rather than unleash Ontario’s touted mining bonanza.

The provincial government pledges that unburdening itself from consultation, consensus building, transparency, oversight and accountability measures will shield Ontarians from the American tyrant-at-large. Smoothing our way to quicker economic pickup may prove unlikely.

Ford’s rough handling of people and planning dynamics could be his undoing. No apparent design for using Bill 5 power, no agreement with other government levels on how it applies, no full-throated industry acceptance heard, and much antagonistic public reception in the news predict economic uncertainty not prosperity as advertised.

Nobody says governance is easy, or that democracy is a slick slide to the finish. Good governance requires clear principles, vision, planning, good will, openness, honesty and competence. Bill 5 begs the competence question: if Ford’s government has to downgrade, dismantle and dismiss decades of carefully crafted citizen, worker, Indigenous, business, industrial and environmental ethics, priorities and protections, is he really up for the job of managing our multi-faceted social, economic and environmental future?

If so, why hasn’t he shown respect for the lived wisdom and conscientious leadership of Indigenous peoples and built appropriate relationships; or heeded advice from the Association of Municipalities of Ontario and the Mining Industry?

Special economic zones

Ford’s government didn’t bother to make the case for potential uses of special economic zones or cabinet’s handpicking development projects and the need to release them from expert scrutiny and parliamentary oversight. And it hasn't demonstrated any understanding of SEZ process and guiding principles. Only has it propounded the powers ministers will now wield. Looks surreptitious. Smells autocratic.

SEZs have been used successfully in a variety of countries in the developing world. The World Bank has produced a guide book (1) on the Do’s and Don’ts of their use. Ford’s government gang gets full marks for achieving all the don’ts because it: lacks strategic planning; fails to address infrastructure needs and government co-ordination; has poor implementation capacity; demonstrates inability to mitigate environmental and social risks. 

If that weren’t enough to give us pause, Bill 5 pre-absolves Bill 5-enabled operatives from liability from Bill 5 impacts by preventing lawsuits against government ministers or officials who preside over Bill 5-enabled activities that go awry.

Association of Municipalities of Ontario

The AMO says their member communities are high-investor, critical economic partners within Ontario. Their upfront objectives lead with health, safety, environmental protection, community well-being and the upholding of Indigenous rights and relationships.

AMO’s submission (2) on Bill 5 stresses that SEZs require strong municipal and local partnership to succeed. SEZs that override local bylaws and decision-making and that execute local housing without limits bypassing local deliberation, risks unco-ordinated municipal growth, and presents cost consequences for delivering infrastructure.

To achieve full potential, vital SEZs need to develop good faith alliances with municipalities as key partners, not door mats. Agreement in advance and local support are crucial before projects move forward. Nowhere does Bill 5 ensure compliance with the duty to consult on the municipal level.

Economic prosperity, says AMO, is tied to health, safety and environmental prosperity. Which flows from rigorous protection of species-at-risk, natural habitats and environmental areas.

The public sector values and principles that AMO stands by, they insist, need ratification by the provincial government for revitalized economic development to establish traction.

Mining Industry

The mining sector is considerably wary of their investments riding on Bill 5’s environmental, social, and governance (ESG) deficits. One mining industry report (3) says Bill 5’s deregulatory thrust would primarily benefit small investment, junior exploration firms that would drive an uptick of prospecting activity in the Ring of Fire but little mineral extraction development.

It goes on to say, centralizing power in the disorganized Ministry of Mines, with its vague mineral claims management, are disincentives for serious mining investors. Mining analysts say the industry’s larger and long-term concern includes potential for political interference with no checks and balances on ministerial actions.

Mining industry feedback advises that Bill 5 lacks co-ordinated federal-provincial infrastructure planning and investment, and legislative mandates for free, prior and informed consent. Big investment funds that have heeded public demand and profit proofs prefer strong ESG frameworks and could see as a major governance failure the lack of Indigenous inclusion. Projects linked to Bill 5 could face reputational damage for investors, the industry anticipates, consumer boycotts or delays by instigating activist litigation.

This summer the premier may want to clear his head and find joy at a summer powwow. There, Doug Ford could wisely decide to scrap Bill 5 and join us all in a singular ambition to keep Ontario a place to live and a place to grow. Together. His other chosen path promises chaos.   

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References

1.   https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/700061638779538611/pdf/The-Dos-and-Don-ts-of-Special-Economic-Zones.pdf

2.   https://www.amo.on.ca/sites/default/files/assets/DOCUMENTS/Tariffs/2025/2025-05-26-AMOSubmissionBill5.pdf

3.  https://mineralprices.com/ontarios-bill-5-protecting-ontario-by-unleashing-our-economy-act-2025-and-its-potential-effects-on-the-mining-industry/

Reading the tea leaves of the federal election

As the dust settles on the federal election, those of us concerned with global warming and the climate crisis are reflecting on what the future will bring.

This was an election where the climate crisis did not figure prominently in the daily coverage of the election. More immediate concerns such as housing and the cost of living, not to mention the potential impact of U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs, weighed heavily on voters' minds. The climate crisis might seem a concern further on the horizon and therefore not as important, but the effects are being felt now and if we do not cut back on carbon emissions, today's issues will seem insignificant.

March 2025 was the 20th month in the last 21 that the global average temperature was more that 1.5C above the pre-industrial level, the marker global scientists have stated we must limit the rise in temperature to avoid severe ramifications. Current ramifications such as Arctic sea ice setting a new record for the lowest sea ice freeze.

Antarctic sea ice was 24 per cent below the average, the fourth lowest record for any March. Australia has been hit with unfathomably large flooding and a March heat wave in Central Asia was 10C hotter than the pre-industrial average. The temperatures were described as "quite frankly bonkers" by one of the authors of the study highlighting this (National Observer, April 13, 2025, Zero Carbon with Chris Hatch.)

Canada is also experiencing ramifications as the Arctic temperatures are up 4C not 1.5C, forest fires and melting permafrost.

The climate crisis goes hand in hand with the more immediate concerns of the cost of living and health. Check out Healthy, Wealthy and Wise by the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment. Growing carbon emissions are increasing asthma episodes, hospital visits, chronic disease and premature deaths. Good environmental policy is good health policy.

Fortunately, Canadians elected a government that does understand there is a climate crisis and Canada has obligations to address it. Prime Minister Mark Carney is recognized as a global expert on the effects of climate change on business and finance and the strategies required by business and finance to lead us to solutions.

However, politics is a tough business and it will be up to the citizens of Canada to hold the federal government to account and push for bold solutions both nationally and globally to prevent further global warming and its harmful effects.

Unfortunately for Newmarket and Aurora, we elected two MPs from a party that does not take the climate crisis seriously. At the last Conservative Party policy convention, the membership voted down a motion stating that "climate change is real." In the recent election, they avoided any discussion of the climate crisis and when pressed, had little or nothing to suggest as solutions other than sending liquid carbon gas to India.

We will not only have to lobby the government to ensure they enact appropriate policies to reduce carbon emissions but convince our Conservative representatives that climate change is real and to start taking it seriously.

Meanwhile, we cannot ignore developments in Ontario with the government overhauling environmental and farmland protection with draconian powers that put endangered species at risk. This is a monumental shift away from rule of law and invests Trump-like powers to the premier and the cabinet. This is the Greenbelt fight all over again.

We do, however, have MPPs representing us in Newmarket and Aurora that are members of the government that we can directly interact with to voice our disapproval of this legislation known as Bill 5.

It can be disheartening and overwhelming when governments don’t grasp or will not grasp the magnitude of not dealing with the climate crisis. There is a ray of light from the federal election.

And let's start looking at our municipal politicians to see if they are taking this seriously. Municipal elections are in November 2026. Let’s make sure they are worthy of re-election.

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We need a PM who will include climate emergency in plan to strengthen economy

Perhaps globally we needed the wake-up call of a Trump presidency to open our collective eyes to the grave danger presented by the misinformation and disinformation that has been flooding our social media sites for a long time, sowing division and fuelling polarized rhetoric, threatening our democracy.

Trump's war against Canada and its other allies has led to fear and a rush to find quick answers to complex issues; to seek a quick fix to deal with the looming financial hardships Canada will face as tariffs from the U.S. and now China as well impact our economy.

But as Canadians, we face an even greater challenge: how to cope with the rapidly advancing threat of climate change and its consequences.

The IPCC warning of a looming climate catastrophe unless we rapidly and drastically reduce carbon emissions is not a scare tactic. This warning is based on the most comprehensive scientific evidence available. And now, unless we are keeping our eyes closed, we can see the effects of climate disasters everywhere in the world: tornadoes, hurricanes, tsunamis, wildfires, landslides, lethal heat waves, earthquakes and more.

These are all natural phenomena, but at nowhere near this time frame. The climate events that are happening with increasing frequency are climate events that normally would occur over many thousands of years. And the reason is clear and exactly what the vast majority of climate scientists have been warning about, our massive carbon emissions have tipped our planet into a state of crisis. The only solution is to drastically reduce emissions now, not over the long haul.

It is to our great peril if we choose to focus only on the economic threat of tariffs facing our economy. We cannot afford to ignore the climate disasters that we have recently faced.

The wildfires and destruction of Lytton, B.C., the devastating wildfires in Jasper and Fort McMurray, record-breaking floods in Quebec because of Hurricane Debby, heatwaves and flooding in Toronto. It goes on and on.

The 2024 financial cost of climate disasters in Canada from severe weather events reached $8.5 billion in insured costs alone. This does not include uninsured personal or business assets. It does not include loss of life. It does not include the rising cost of insurance or the growing number of uninsurable properties.

So in Canada, when we hear of a politician basically running on a platform that suggests 'drill, baby, drill', stop emissions caps, leave it to other nations to deal with carbon emissions, shortcut environmental assessments and consultation, we must take a pause.

We are in a time of crisis. We are being threatened by a bully across the border. But we must not use this threat to increase our dependence on fossil fuel and reward the big oil producers even more. They have been making obscene executive profits for years, minimizing the effects of carbon on climate change, falsifying and skewing data, spending billions on misleading advertisements and influencing educational institutions. They can afford to pay the cost of reducing carbon emissions.

We need to focus on strategically building our economy and an expeditious transition to sustainable energy through rapidly developing transmission lines, increased renewable energy production, green building standards that will save both emissions and homeowner costs, and a push toward renewables through educational programs and grants, partnership with unions, and every means possible to help Canada build toward a sustainable future, rather than moving backward, seeking old solutions to today’s problems.

When we assess the platforms of those who ask to lead us as we seek solutions to threats to both Canada’s sovereignty and economy, we must look carefully at promises made. Canada must change the way we have operated for centuries. We must diversify our economy and seek new trading relationships. But in today’s world, it is imperative that our leaders understand and acknowledge that we must deal with the economic crisis we are facing, while we plan for an economy that recognizes the need for urgent climate action.

We must "walk and chew gum at the same time."

Ultimately, a majority of votes are required to elect a steady PM with global experience, strong economic credentials with a deep understanding of the full task at hand, who will include the climate emergency in plans to strengthen our economy.

We need a prime minister who will lead us in the right direction. Our country’s future—and the survival of our planet—are at stake. Make your vote count.

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