CLIMATE CORNER: Bill 5 will ‘unleash havoc’ on the environment and democracy

Jeannine d’Entremont is a member of Halton Hills Climate Action, which writes a monthly opinion column for HaltonHillsToday.

“You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone,” sang Joni Mitchell. This is a wake up call to us all that if we don’t act, we may lose much of what we value as Ontarians and Canadians.

Halton Hills’ tagline is “Small Town Living at its Best!” We’re surrounded by the Greenbelt, fertile farmland and the magnificent Niagara Escarpment. These natural assets store carbon, cool the atmosphere and absorb flooding while providing critical habitat for diverse species, including humans.

But a new piece of provincial legislation could threaten all of that.

The Ford government is fast-tracking Bill 5: Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act. Halton Hills Climate Action calls it the Unleashing Havoc on the Environment and our Democracy Act. If passed, this omnibus bill would repeal the Endangered Species Act, largely wiping out protections for the habitat of endangered and threatened species. It would give Premier Ford’s Cabinet sweeping powers to exempt any area or project they choose from any existing provincial or municipal laws, for any reason. Forget due process, transparency, criteria, guardrails, or even purpose.

Under the guise of fighting Trump’s tariffs and growing the economy, Schedule 9 of this bill is in fact straight from Trump’s playbook.

Schedule 9 allows the government to designate “special economic zones,” “designated projects” and “trusted proponents” to be defined later by Cabinet. A Minister can hand pick corporations and exempt them from having to comply with provincial and municipal laws.

One of our leaders says, “This bill is creating complete lawlessness in Ontario. Cabinet can do anything, approve anything and ignore all provincial and municipal laws and regulations. It is a disaster.”

We’re told these powers are needed to cut red tape so projects like mineral extraction in northern Ontario’s Ring of Fire, Highway 413 and the 401 tunnel can proceed as soon as possible, unfettered by environmental assessments, overriding existing municipal plans without public input or the constitutional duty to consult with Indigenous peoples.

But giving due consideration to the impact of development on endangered species, waterways, air quality and the rights of Indigenous populations to decide what happens on their Treaty lands is not “red tape.”

By proposing this law, the government is putting business interests above the environment, communities, workers and democracy. The Ford government would have us believe this will lead to economic prosperity, but without a liveable environment and a healthy population, economic prosperity is impossible.

If we want to preserve what we have for ourselves and future generations, we need to forcefully oppose this destructive and undemocratic bill. Time is of the essence. The bill has passed second reading in the legislature and is going to committee May 22 and 26.

Call our newly-elected Wellington-Halton Hills MPP Joseph Racinsky at 519-787-5247 or email [email protected]. Visit Halton Hills Climate Action to learn about more actions you can take.