​Ontario’s Bill 5 is an unprecedented power grab, says local environmental action group

To the Editor:

Imagine that the Town of Kincardine were declared a special economic zone under Bill 5, as proposed by Ontario premier Doug Ford’s government.

Let’s say the private luxury spa that took over Ontario Place wanted to build a second spa on the currently public Station Beach. Or, perhaps a developer wanted to expropriate a vast tract of Bruce County’s most productive farmland for some industrial factories, as happened recently in Wilmot Township. Or, maybe a developer wanted to build a community of mini-mansions within Inverhuron Provincial Park, north of town, since not even provincial parks will be immune from this bill.

Under Bill 5, any provincial or municipal law or statute could be suspended. That means any labourer building these possible developments might not be protected by labour laws concerning their health, safety or rate of pay. That means any municipal laws concerning planning, zoning and the impact on neighbours could be ignored. That means any plants or wildlife that could be adversely affected by the development could be disregarded. That means developers could overlook any regulations related to water or air quality. That means any concern about climate change would be non-existent.

While none of these imaginary developments is currently on the table, Bill 5 can create special economic zones anywhere in Ontario with no limits, rationale or guardrails. For more information about the details of Bill 5, check out this webinar by Environmental Defence at this link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Lj7ZqlPIGM&t=94s.

When Ford vowed to protect Ontario from United States president Donald Trump’s threats to punish Canadians with tariffs until we caved to the pressure to become the 51st state, he forgot to tell us he would suspend the rule of law to do so. He forgot to tell us that he would remove all protections for Ontario’s environment and workers in the same way Trump is currently doing in the U.S.

Bill 5 will not end the trade war, protect agricultural or environmentally-sensitive land, create affordable housing, reduce homelessness or improve our local communities. It will create a lawless chaos for anywhere unfortunate enough to be declared a special economic zone.

Ford might have wrapped himself in the Canadian flag to get re-elected but by pushing Bill 5, the government is threatening its own people.

Please call and E-mail Huron-Bruce (Conservative) MPP Lisa Thompson’s office: lisa.thompsonco@pc.ola.org, 519-396-3007, to voice your concerns about this non-democratic over-reaching bill. Tell her to stop Bill 5 from becoming law in Ontario.

Sincerely,
Susan Hundertmark
Tony McQuail
Christine Roberts
Wilhemina Laurie
Jim Hollingworth
Rebecca Garrett
Janice McKean
Sharon Collingwood
Members of Growing Rural Environmental Action Network (GREAN) of Huron, Bruce and Perth counties