I am very concerned that the…

I am very concerned that the Special Economic Zones will be used to expand oil and gas infrastructure, specifically pipelines without proper procedure. During the press release for Bill 5 on April 17th, 2025, Premier Ford said that Bill 5 would be used to fast-track and prioritize oil and gas infrastructure in the name of "protecting Ontario" from the U.S. tariffs, economic growth, and global security. What Ontarians need to be protected from is the corporate greed of oil and gas companies, climate misinformation and the rising costs of living caused by climate change.

For all the talk about affordability and keeping costs low, where is the mention of rising insurance rates due to extreme weather events? What about the impact of climate disruption on our food supply chains and agricultural productivity?

The IEA, Bloomberg and other organizations project that peak out will occur in 2030 during the best data in the world. As the rest of the globe including China and other countries in Asia and Europe come to demand less oil and gas, this will result in stranded fossil fuel assets in Canada. That is the economic reason for why we need to transition away from it.

Environmentally, we need to also reach Net Zero by 2050 and this pipeline would not help it. As the world experiences more extreme weather events cause by the burning of oil and us, biodiversity is put at great risk as well as our water and air quality. This pipeline would help progress the climate crisis.

Pipeliness also have a risk of spills. In Ontario they are built closely next to the Great Lakes. Ontario also has many interconnected bodies of water and so a new pipeline built anywhere with the help of Bill 5, would put many water and land species at risk. Spills are also a risk to human health and may disproportionately harm Indigenous, low-income, or marginalized populations.