The Ontario Government is proposing to introduce another in a series of sweeping policies designed to streamline development application processes and energize Ontario’s economy at the expense of maintaining environmental protections. The latest initiative is Bill 5, “Protecting Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act, 2025”. Bill 5 aims to speed up development on projects including mining northern Ontario’s Ring of Fire, adding more landfill space in York Region, and exempting the Therme Spa development project from public consultation and review.
If passed by the Provincial legislature, Bill 5 would:
- create ‘special economic zones’ where the government can suspend laws and regulations in order to build,
- allow the government to approve projects while disregarding Indigenous rights,
- absolve the government of legal responsibility for the cost of damages,
- weaken species protections to make it easier to build mines and highways,
- exempt development projects from environmental reviews,
- erode safeguards against mining activity,
- exempt Ontario Place from public consultation requirements.
The BEA along with other environmental and First Nations groups, have significant concerns about this proposed legislation. Perhaps the biggest concern is that this Bill would repeal the 2007 Endangered Species Act which, although far from perfect, was commended as being among the strongest in the country at the time.
There are over 200 endangered species of plants and animals protected under the current act. For example, bird species that were once common in southern Ontario such as the Barn Owl, Barn Swallow, Eastern Meadowlark, and Eastern Whip-poor-will, are in danger of becoming extinct in the next few years without appropriate steps being taken to protect their habitat and breeding grounds. Fish such as the Redside Dace that once lived in the cool waters of Brampton’s rivers, creeks and rivulets, are now endangered, as is the Blanding’s Turtle.
Once gone, they are gone forever. Some would say, “so what”, but, for many of us these losses are acutely felt, affecting our quality of life and our ability to enjoy outdoor recreation. The unique characteristics of these plants and animals adds to the richness of our lives. In many cases they provide importance services, maintaining nature’s balance between pests and predators, pollinating our gardens, or helping fertilize our crops. Like the canary in the coal mine, these losses in biodiversity also represent a decline in the stability of our ecosystems that are necessary to sustain essential life elements for many Ontarians such as, access to clean water, clean air and a livable climate.
Recently, the BEA provided a submission to the Environmental Registry of Ontario, outlining our concerns. Here is the Executive Summary from that submission as prepared by BEA Board member Steve Papagiannis.
The Brampton Environmental Alliance (BEA) believes that nature should be protected first, as it is difficult to remediate an ecosystem once ruined. Destruction is often irreversible. Endangered species are a first sign of an ecosystem at risk. The goal is not just to protect a single species, but to ensure a strong habitat is available for multiple species.
We believe that Provincial policy should encourage and support sustainable development where reasonable steps must be taken to minimize environmental damage and where whatever damage is caused is remediated by those who have caused it with the costs being absorbed by the proponent not the public purse.
In our opinion, the following changes to the Endangered Species Act add a high degree of risk to Ontario’s environment:
- The ability of the government to override the scientific classification of endangered species
It is the equivalent of an unqualified cabinet arbitrarily modifying a list of OHIP covered medical treatments, overriding established medical practice in the interests of saving money rather than lives. Under this legislation, the government could simply state “There are no endangered species in Ontario”, in contravention of scientific fact. - The removal of the term “harassment” from protections
The Ontario website states, “An activity that harasses a living member of a protected species is one that disrupts its normal behaviour in a manner that adversely affects the ability of the member to carry out one or more of its life processes.” By removing this term, the legislation is no longer able to protect species from harassment, potentially subjecting them to conditions where they can no longer carry out their life processes and dooming them to extinction. - There is no legal requirement for proponents to have a remediation plan for damages caused
Currently, if environmental damage is forecasted from the actions of a private developer, the proponent is required to repair it and plans for reparations must be included as part of their proposal. Removing the legal requirement for a remediation plan means there can be no enforcement in the event of environmental damage. This puts Ontarians at risk for either a ruined environment, or to assume remediation costs. - The ability of a proponent to begin work prior to permitting in ALL cases
This would allow high risk projects to start prior to any understanding of the risks to habitat. A Registration model should only be permitted in the most common and well understood projects. - The elimination of any payment to a remediation fund
This goes against the principle of a proponent having a responsibility for any damages. If there is an area with endangered species a proponent has an obligation to cover remediation costs.
You can see the entire submission by clicking on the button below.
What can you do?
Call or write your MPP to let them know your concerns regarding Bill 5.