The Orwellian name for Bill…

The Orwellian name for Bill 5: the 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐎𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐨 𝐛𝐲 𝐔𝐧𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐄𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐲 𝐀𝐜𝐭 sounds "double-plus good" for the same oligarchs this government has served since 2018. While ending "pay to slay" sounds like a step in the right direction, the rest of this bill provides "nothing but gimmes" for the likes of those who funded Ontario Proud to first get you elected and whose investments in your government were spectacularly successful (EG: being given carte blanche with once extremely rare creation of MZOs that your government now seems to deploy from a Ministry "PEZ-Dispenser"). Gutting the Endangered Species Act, creating "Special Economic Zones" (sounds reminiscent of those "Export Processing Zones" used to create an "oasis of regulatory lawlessness" for private capital - Oh yeah!) and the exemption of the Eagle’s Nest mine from an environmental review is not in Ontario's long-term interests.

Bill 5 gives your government extreme new powers to ignore laws that protect the environment, public health, and Indigenous rights — without accountability. This is unacceptable.

The Special Economic Zones Act (Schedule 9) would grant unprecedented powers to the Provincial Cabinet and could allow corporations or individuals to avoid any laws and by-laws in entire areas of Ontario. There are no limits, no rules, and no public input. This is not how democracy should work! This is, however, how OLIGARCHY works. And before you go on about the mandate from your 3rd straight Majority government, Mr. Teneycke was smart enough to keep this part of your agenda from the voters the way your government kept its designs for the Greenbelt from them before the last election.

The new Species Conservation Act (Schedules 2 & 10) would strip away real protections for at-risk species and their habitats. Science and recovery planning are being replaced by an empty process that can’t protect our wildlife.

The exemption for the Eagle’s Nest mine (Schedule 3) removes the need for a full environmental assessment — ignoring the serious risks to climate-critical peatlands and Indigenous territory. This goes against Canada’s commitments to reconciliation and climate action. The First Nations of Treaty Nine don't deserve to be disregarded like this. I am sure they won't stand for it and hope they can mobilize the rest of us in this province to generate a general strike if necessary to get you to back down (I recall it was the threat of one that got you to back down from oppressing education workers a while back).

Ontario should not give up vital environmental protections or give the Provincial Cabinet unlimited power. This won’t solve the trade war or stimulate economic growth. Indeed, your stated reasons for Bill 5 sound transparently disingenuous since it will only bring us closer to being "even more like a Red State" in the United States. Can't you just "call it a day" after making gas stations sell booze? Your legacy for this province is already ugly, financially Kafkaesque (e.g., $60 billion "starting" to tunnel under the 401 but not a red cent to provide or subsidize transponders for transport trucks on the 407 - apropos of PCO priorities) and severely undermines Indigenous rights.

I grew up in the Ontario Bill Davis built. I witnessed Harris take "New York run by the Swiss" and turn it into what you've been turning Ontario in general into. Your "Open For Business" violates Bill's "Keep It Beautiful" legacy.

I'm begging you, stop this environmental racketeering and withdraw Bill 5 immediately.

Sincerely
One thoroughly disappointed 905'er