NFU-O Demands Withdrawal of Bill 5
Treaty lands and territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit; Guelph, ON (June 4, 2025) —
Bill 5, the Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act, 2025 is an unacceptable attack on our lands, livelihoods, and democracy. It would unilaterally declare areas of Ontario “Special Economic Zones” for the sake of fast-tracking certain forms of economic development by allowing provincial Cabinet to exclude “a trusted proponent or designated project” from application of democratically decided regulations and laws enacted by the provincial and municipal governments and/or administrative boards with impunity. Anyone injured as a result of exemptions given to proponents or projects is not allowed to sue for damages or compensation. This legislation’s intent is to disregard established values, including respect for the Treaty rights of Indigenous Nations, labour standards, worker health and safety, ecological protection, and endangered species.
The Bill is sweeping in the authority it gives to Cabinet and the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade. None of the details regarding implementation of Special Economic Zones are in the Bill itself – these are all to be revealed later in the form of regulations after the Bill becomes law. There will be no recourse to the courts for those harmed by the bill, as Bill 5 gives government itself, Cabinet ministers and government employees immunity to prosecution for any actions they take implementing Special Economic Zones.
The environmental regulations, labour laws, human rights protections, and other public interest measures that this Bill would authorize Cabinet to suspend were established through democratic process after much consultation and debate. They were originally put in place precisely to protect against the kinds of harms caused by unfettered industrial activities. Our workers need occupational health and safety protections and fair pay when they are on the job, and the ecosystems we depend upon, and the endangered species that depend on those habitats, require protections. To allow injustice and destruction for the sake of the economy is to throw decades of hard-fought labour, human rights and environmental law into the garbage can. Treaty Rights are inherent rights, and by trampling on them, Bill 5 does irrevocable harm to Indigenous nations’ traditional territories.
Bill 5 would literally punch holes in the legal fabric of Ontario and Canada as a whole. It would allow the Minister to unilaterally say to certain companies: “go ahead” with otherwise illegal activities as long as you do them within a so-called Special Economic Zone. This dangerous Bill would create a precedent within Canada, and open a door for companies and industries all across the country to lobby for Special Economic Zones where rules would not apply to them either.
The NFU-O, along with the OFA and CFFO, have fought hard to protect farmland in the Waterloo area from expropriation for some as yet secret industrial development. We have seen government put industrial interests ahead of communities’ interests, sacrificing livelihoods of working people and farmers so that an industry can have its way. Bill 5 would expand and accelerate the government’s power to hive off other parts of Ontario to be run as private wealth extraction zones at the expense of the people, land, sacred Treaty relationships, and the future of Ontario.
Canadians want to maintain our sovereignty because Canada is different from the USA or any other country. Bill 5 would suspend our democracy and put in place an authoritarian regime determined by resource extraction corporations under the protection of Premier Doug Ford and Victor Fedeli, Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade.
We demand that Bill 5 be withdrawn immediately. Ontario can only prosper where the rights of people, the health of ecosystems and the rule of law is respected throughout our entire province. Bill 5 represents a slippery slope towards turning our unified nation into a patchwork of corporate fiefdoms, marred by ecological destruction and human exploitation.
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For more information:
Max Hansgen, President, National Farmers Union–Ontario
Email: president@nfuontario.ca, 613-464-1251
