Ontario Premier Doug Ford says First Nations groups who blockade critical infrastructure will be “dealt with appropriately” as tensions peak over his controversial mining legislation, with expectations it could pass today.
Among other changes, Bill 5, or the Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act, will create so-called special economic zones where a range of laws, ranging from municipal approvals to environmental rules or even labour law, won’t apply.
The proposed law has sparked protests from First Nations leaders at Queen’s Park who fear it will infringe upon their rights. They have threatened that if the bill passes, more protests will follow, including the possible blockade of highways, railways and mines.
On Wednesday, Ford addressed the potential for protests if his legislation passes and warned Indigenous leaders not to disrupt infrastructure around the province.
“You can’t break the law, simple as that,” the premier said. “If any of us were to go stand and block the highway — they need to move on or they’ll be dealt with appropriately. They cannot just break the law, and I don’t think the people of Ontario would be there supporting them.”
He added the protests “wouldn’t be very wise.”
In the face of some of the backlash from First Nations groups, the government introduced a number of amendments to parts of the legislation, including a change to the law’s preamble.
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The proposed legislation has had an increasingly bumpy ride toward being passed into law, despite the Progressive Conservatives’ significant majority at Queen’s Park.
When Bill 5 made its way to committee last week, the Ontario NDP and Liberals banded together to filibuster proceedings and force an extra day of committee hearings on the legislation.
That day came on Tuesday when the Liberals tabled 4,000 amendments to the law in an attempt to block the government from making its own changes to the bill. They partly succeeded, with only 14 of the province’s 26 amendments passed.
The move was designed to force the province to hit pause, rather than pass its law without the amendments it pledged to show it was listening to concerns.
On Wednesday, however, Ford blamed the Liberals for “playing politics” and appeared to indicate he would pass the bill without all the changes.
“It’s a shame that they want to play politics and try and run out the clock and now allow us to put in amendments, but what I can assure you, with Indigenous communities across Ontario, we’re going to have (a) duty to consult, we’re going to respect treaty rights,” Ford said.
The Progressive Conservatives have fast-tracked parts of Bill 5 with a motion to allow it to pass its third and final reading with only one hour of debate. That should allow MPPs to pass the bill into law sometime on Wednesday or Thursday.
Opposition politicians, as they’ve tried to slow the legislation, have warned that its special economic zones will create “no-law” areas, suggesting they could be used for a variety of projects.
Ford himself appeared to indicate last week that he would eventually designate Highway 401 and nuclear power plants as special economic zones where laws can be sidestepped in order to speed up construction.
“We’re down to the final hours before the government intends to impose a vote on Bill 5 and pass this law,” Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles said on Wednesday morning.
“This bill should not be going to a vote, there has not been proper consultation. The idea, as the premier says all the time, you are going to consult after the fact just doesn’t cut it.”
The NDP, Liberals and Greens are all calling on Ford to abandon the bill entirely.
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