GUELPH, WR JOIN RALLIES ACROSS ONTARIO AGAINST BILL 5
This article was published in print on June 5, with information up to June 4. On June 5, Bill 5 was passed.
The Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act, or Bill 5, is now moving through Queen’s Park before the legislature’s summer break on June 5 and may be signed as a law.
On Saturday, May 24, 2025, the Guelph Climate Action Network held a rally at the covered bridge in York Road Park, Guelph, where about 200 people opposed the Ford governments controversial Bill 5. The protesters came with poster, props, signs and were chanting “stop Bill 5.”
The Ford government stated it will expedite the completion of large infrastructure and resource extraction projects by cutting down on delays and removing redundancies in the approval process while critics claim the controversial bill will undermine democratic rights and create environmental damage.
The major aspect of Bill 5 is creating ‘special economic zones’ and would introduce changes to the Electricity Act 1998, the Endangered Species Act 2007, the Environmental Assessment Act, the Mining Act, the Ontario Energy Board Act 1998, the Ontario Heritage Act, the Rebuilding Ontario Place Act, the Special Economic Zones Act and the Species Conservation Act.
“Bill 5 is going to be the Greenbelt Scandal all over again. The last time Doug Ford tried this, the people of Ontario stopped him. Bill 5 and Bill 17 are the same thing—exactly the same thing. He’s trying to do it again,” Leanne Caron, Guelph city councillor, said.
“He said the special economic zones would be something he’d expect to come out of countries like Russia, China, Saudi Arabia or other developing countries. No rules, no laws, no democratic oversight. We are not going to take it in Ontario,” Mike Schreiner, MPP for the Guelph Green Party, said.
Aislinn Clancy, Green Party MPP from Kitchener-Centre, said the provincial government lost public trust with Bill 23. The proposed Bill 5, she said, would give cabinet ministers absolute power without means to hold them accountable.
“[…It] also makes them really vulnerable to a conflict of interest, because they can choose which corporations can take advantage of these special economic zones,” Clancy said.
Mike Marcolongo associate director with Environmental Defence, said Bill 5 is a threat to democracy. It provides the ministers with unprecedented power.
“The challenge with Bill 5 is that the Ford government is operating as if the economy is disconnected from nature, from the environment, there’s no limits, according to this government. The environment is not red tape. Indigenous consultation is not red tape,” he said.
“The legislation that’s in place are the safeguards for clean water or healthy labour practices or healthy community,” Marcolongo said.
The rally was organised by Wellington Water Watchers, Seniors for Climate Action Now, Guelph Indigenous Community Council, OPIRG Guelph, eMERGE Guelph, Nature Guelph, the Dublin Street United Church and the Guelph Climate Action network.
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