Bill 5 Alert – Canadian Environmental Law Association Urges All Of Us To Speak Out Against Ford’s Bill 5cela

An Urgent Call to Action from the Canadian Environmental Law Association, a nation-wide, non-profit legal group fighting for environmental protection

Posted May 13^th, 2025 on Niagara At Large

Last month, the Ontario government introduced Bill 5, the Protect Ontario by Unleashing Our Economy Act. CELA’s legal team has just completed its review of the bill, and we’re calling on the government to withdraw it.

This omnibus legislation would:

• * Suspend environmental laws in new “Special Economic Zones”, which the government is empowered to create.
• * Weaken mining and species-at-risk safeguards, prioritizing economic growth over ecological and public-health protections.
• * Exempt major projects from environmental environmental reviews, in particular the Dresen landfill and Eagle’s Next Mine.

If enacted, Bill 5 would dismantle critical legal safeguards for our environment and human health. We’re deeply concerned about its potential impact on Indigenous rights. CELA strongly urges the province to withdraw Bill 5 in its entirety.

On our website you’ll see our legal team’s forty-six page assessment of the bill (https://cela.ca/cela-comments-on-bill-5-protect-ontario-by-unleashing-our-economy-act-2025/) , an action page to support you making your own submission (https://cela.ca/action-alert-bill-5/) as well as a blog summarizing the impacts of Bill 5. (https://cela.ca/blog-ontario-bill-5-attacks-environmental-law-and-the-rule-of-law/)

Please visit the link below and submit your comment before the May 17th, 2025 deadline.

Please visit our website here (https://cela.ca/action-alert-bill-5/) to learn more and take action.

Thank you for standing up for Ontario’s environment and communities.

• Sincerely, Theresa McClenaghan, Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA)

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