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Ontario’s Bill 5

Premier Doug Ford’s third term has begun with yet another attempt to build lots of things quickly in Ontario. As has become the pattern, one of the Progressive Conservatives’ first moves after winning the 2025 election was to introduce sweeping omnibus legislation: Bill 5, or the Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act. 

Introduced in April, on the eve of the Easter long weekend, the bill proposes to overhaul a number of regulations to accelerate energy and infrastructure development, as well as mineral extraction projects the government says are of strategic importance to the province. The bill waters down rules that protect endangered species and natural heritage sites, maintain oversight of mining activities, require respect for constitutionally guaranteed Indigenous Rights and mandate environment assessments and protections. 

Taken together, Bill 5 blunts the regulations that ensure construction and extraction don’t cause undue harm to land, water, wildlife and human health. It also empowers cabinet to create special economic zones where the laws that do remain can be circumvented to facilitate development. 

There’s more to the story of Ontario’s environment. And we’re telling it
The Narwhal’s Ontario bureau brings you reporting you won’t find anywhere else. Sign up for a weekly dose of our independent journalism
There’s more to the story of Ontario’s environment. And we’re telling it
The Narwhal’s Ontario bureau brings you reporting you won’t find anywhere else. Sign up for a weekly dose of our independent journalism

While the province’s press release on Bill 5 is chock full of supportive quotes from mining executives and business organizations, the public response — from several Indigenous organizations and environmental groups — is one of deep concern. 

Several First Nations of Treaty 9, which covers the mineral-rich Ring of Fire in northern Ontario that the government has promised to “unlock” as an economic hub, responded with an open letter to the province stating they would go to court over the omnibus bill, if necessary.

“These lands are not Ontario’s to do with as they wish. They are our ancestral lands. We have always been here and are going nowhere,” Donny Morris, Chief of Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug, said in the letter. “Whatever Ford and his government might want their base to think, nothing is happening up here without our consent.”

Read on for The Narwhal’s latest coverage of the omnibus development and mining bill. 

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How our journalism makes a difference
Here at The Narwhal, we do journalism differently. As an independent non-profit, we’re accountable to you, our readers — not advertisers or shareholders. So we measure our success based on real-world impact: evidence that our reporting influenced citizens to hold power to account and pushed policymakers to do better.

Our stories have been raised in legislatures across the country and cited by citizens in petitions and letters to politicians.

Take our reporting on Alberta’s decision to allow cougar hunting in parks, which was cited in an official ethics complaint against the parks minister. And, after we revealed an oil and gas giant was permitted to sidestep the rules for more than 4,300 pipelines, the BC Energy Regulator started posting the exemptions it grants publicly.

This kind of work takes time, money and a lot of grit. And we can’t do it without the support of thousands of readers just like you.

Will you help us dig deep by joining as a monthly or yearly member, for any donation amount you can afford? Bonus: join this month and we’ll send you a Narwhal tote bag to say thanks!
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As a journalist who has spent decades asking questions that cut through noise, I’m cautious where I place my trust. The Narwhal has earned it — through rigorous, independent reporting, careful, on-the-ground storytelling and a clear commitment to the public interest. It’s why I’ve become a member myself. Will you join me? The Narwhal needs to add 400 new members this month to keep telling these important stories. And if you join now, you’ll get a special tote bag as thanks. — Anna Maria Tremonti, founding host of CBC Radio’s The Current and member of The Narwhal’s board of directors
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How The Narwhal earned my trust
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