By Frank Harris
On April 17, the Ontario government introduced Bill 5, Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act. Beyond the psychic damage incurred by its unwieldy name, if passed (which it almost certainly will be given the existing Conservative Party majority at Queen’s Park) the bill would make a number of sweeping changes to environmental regulation. The predominant thrust is the removal of many of the already inadequate and poorly enforced constraints on environmental extraction by capital within the province.
At a high level the bill consists of ten schedules, the most notable of which amend the Endangered Species Act in advance of its eventual repeal; exempt two controversial and high-impact projects from the application of the Environmental Assessment Act; exempt the construction of the Therme Spa at Ontario Place from the application of the Environmental Bill of Rights; significantly amend the Mining Act; and introduce the Special Economic Zones Act, which would give the government the authority to make regulations designating “special economic zones” in which “trusted proponents” could be exempted from existing regulatory law.
These proposed actions can be understood as the rollback of existing environmental regulation and rollout of expanded state power to facilitate increasingly intensive extraction for profit. Whether it be developers subject to much less stringent requirements while they bulldoze habitat of species at risk or multinational mining corporations like Wyloo Metals looking forward to operating without any regulatory oversight in a “special economic zone” in the Ring of Fire, capital stands to gain the most from these measures while working people stand to see a further selling off of the material basis of life, a healthy environment.
The Ford government has repeatedly pitched these measures as in the direct economic interest of “ordinary Ontarians” by attempting to cast a freer reign for industry as synonymous with growth of capital and, axiomatically, individual prosperity. While the first of those connections is true, it is certainly not the case that increasing the power of capital and degradation of the environment to the benefit of a select few is in any way linked to the type of egalitarian societal flourishing we should be pursuing.
It is also notable that this represents a continuation of the Ford government’s repeated strategy of using moments of crisis – in this case tariffs imposed by the United States – to justify action on behalf of capital. In a similar fashion, the last major round of environmental retrenchment came during the COVID-19 pandemic, in the form of Bill 197 which similarly enacted a slew of regulatory rollbacks.
As a final point, these most recent proposals potentially illustrate the limitations of traditionally liberal procedural or participatory “rights,” particularly in the context of environmental regulation. Statutes like the Environmental Assessment Act or the Environmental Bill of Rights provide the public with “rights” to be involved in environmental decision making, though this usually amounting to little more than a right to voice concerns with a decision that has already been made.
Legislation like Bill 5, which explicitly exempts many mining activities and several existing high-impact projects from such processes, makes especially clear that when the rubber hits the road, what really matters is the interests of capital.
What is needed is not just an opportunity for working people to “voice their opinion” or “have their concerns heard,” but to directly own and exert democratic control over extraction, production and distribution of energy and natural resources. The path to protecting Ontario is not by “unleashing the economy,” but socialism.
Support working-class media!
If you found this article useful, please consider donating to People’s Voice or purchasing a subscription so that you get every issue of Canada’s leading socialist publication delivered to your door or inbox!
For over 100 years, we have been 100% reader-supported, with no corporate or government funding.
