Preserve Local Jobs

Developers doing business in the government’s “special economic zones” could be exempted from any provincial or municipal laws, including labour laws that make workplaces safe or prevent union-busting.

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Save Farmland

Based on the 2021 Census, only about five per cent of Ontario’s land area is suitable for agriculture. As of the last census Ontario lost 319 acres of farmland per day to urban expansion between 2016 and 2021. At the current rate of loss Ontario will have paved over all of its farmland in 100 years.* With Bill 5 this rate of loss will be rapidly accelerated.

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Defend Democracy

Bill 5 allows the Ford government to create “special economic zones” where “trusted proponents” (i.e. whoever the Premier chooses) can be exempted from all provincial and municipal laws. Not just environmental laws – this could also include labour, traffic or health and safety laws, and municipal laws too.

 

Protect Our Environment

Bill 5 will repeal Ontario's Endangered Species Act, ending most meaningful protections for endangered, threatened and special-concern species. Habitat protections will be limited to a species’ immediate dwelling place (like a den or a nest) but not the surrounding forests or wetlands it depends on for food. Decisions about which species are endangered or threatened can be made by government cabinet ministers instead of scientists.

 

Indigenous Rights

The loosening of rules within these “special economic zones" could be used to undermine Indigenous sovereignty and the constitutional right to free, prior and informed consent. The Ford government has already indicated that it will designate the Ring of Fire as a special economic zone to fast-track critical mineral mining, despite a lack of consultation with First Nations whose lands fall within the area.