​Groups calls on public to protest legislation that erodes democracy and ignores rule of law

To the Editor:

We ask this question, with respect: are you tired, yet, of having the rule of law, your rights and all environmental protections for your community, stripped away by the current provincial government?

Bulldozer Doug just rammed through two highly-undemocratic, harmful bills that will remove the rule of law for his favourite developers, ignore the rights of Indigenous Nations, lead to the extinction of endangered species, and prevent municipalities from using green building regulations to do their
part to fight climate change.

Bills 5 and 17 were rushed through the provincial legislature with minimal public input and almost non-existent debate this week by the Ontario Conservatives before they sped off to their cottages for their summer break. Extensive province-wide protest from Indigenous Nations, environmental groups, labour unions and municipalities, did nothing to stop them from steamrolling over our rights.

These short-sighted authoritarian bills put the greed of the few over the public good.

Bill 5 suspends provincial and municipal law for private developers in special economic zones and ensures the extinction of endangered species by reducing their habitat from the wetlands and forests vital to the survival to their nests and dens.

Bill 17 removes all municipal green building standards that allow municipalities to require new builds to ensure flood protection, air quality, energy efficiency and resiliency in the face of extreme weather and climate change. It takes away the municipal role of the review of development submissions and turns over that job to consultants hired by developers.

Because of its broad language, Bill 17 could overrule bylaws that limit heavy construction overnight in residential neighbourhoods, prevent homes from being built next to industrial plants or prevent tall buildings in the flight paths of hospital air ambulances.

Neither bill does anything to combat United States (U.S.) tariffs, provide affordable housing, end homelessness or improve local communities. They do nothing to prevent the urban sprawl that is steadily encroaching on the province’s productive farmland at an alarming rate – if anything, these bills encourage it.

Bills 5 and 17 are Ontario premier Doug Ford’s exploitation of U.S. threats to our sovereignty and economy, to continue his corrupt campaign to destroy our environment for the enrichment of developers.

We urge you to continue the fight against Bills 5 and 17. E-mail Huron-Bruce MPP Lisa Thompson at lisa.thompsonco@pc.ola.org or call her at 519-396-3007 in Kincardine or 519-523-4251 in Blyth to express your outrage at legislation that erodes our democracy and ignores the rule of law.

Susan Hundertmark, Christine Roberts, Tony McQuail, Jim Hollingworth, Bill Noll, Rita Groen
Members of the Growing Rural Environmental Action Network
Huron, Bruce and Perth counties