The Ontario legislature must…

The Ontario legislature must to reject Bill 5.

Schedule 9 of Bill 5, the Special Economic Zones Act would allow the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade to exempt “trusted proponents” and “designated projects” within “special economic zones” from having to comply with provincial and municipal laws. These terms are not defined in the Act and are left entirely to Cabinet’s discretion. They could mean anything.

This Act sets up the executive branch of the government to unilaterally allow proponents, industry and corporations to bypass any laws, including labour and environmental laws.

These extraordinary powers are not appropriate under any circumstances. Furthermore, these powers will likely only be used to benefit proponents with ties to the government (e.g. donors), industry and developers at the expense of the environment and the people of Ontario.