We the People: Say No to…

We the People: Say No to Bill 5 and the Gutting of the Endangered Species Act

Doug Ford’s latest power grab—Bill 5—is not just another shady backroom deal. It’s a full-frontal assault on Ontario’s natural heritage. Under the guise of “streamlining” development, this bill strips away environmental protections, revokes key portions of the Endangered Species Act, and hands over unchecked power to the Premier to bypass due process—all to benefit a handful of land developers.

This is not responsible governance. This is ecological vandalism dressed up as progress.

Ford’s government is attempting to bulldoze over not just wetlands and woodlands, but over democratic procedures and the voices of the very people it’s supposed to represent. By granting himself the ability to override municipal decisions, conservation science, and decades of hard-won environmental protections, Ford is making it clear: corporate interests matter more than the public good.

What kind of province do we want to live in? One where our children can still hear the call of a whip-poor-will at dusk, or one where concrete covers every inch of once-protected habitat? Where turtles, songbirds, salamanders, and wildflowers have a home—or one where they are reduced to illustrations in textbooks, relics of a past we allowed to vanish?

This is our land. These are our species. And this is our voice.

Bill 5 is a betrayal of Ontarians, of Indigenous communities, of conservationists, of farmers, and of future generations who will be left to clean up this mess—if there’s anything left to save.

We demand the immediate withdrawal of this bill and a renewed commitment to uphold the integrity of Ontario’s environmental legislation. Let it be known: we will not be silent while our forests are felled and our democracy is trampled.

This province belongs to the people, not to profiteers.