A Guelph city councillor says Bill 5 is just the Greenbelt scandal all over again.
Coun. Leanne Caron was one of several guest speakers at a rally and march held Saturday to combat the controversial Bill 5, which the Ontario government said would give it the ability to fast-track development projects by creating exemption zones.
Those zones would be exempt from provincial and municipal laws.
The bill would repeal the Endangered Species Act. Critics say "environmental havoc" will follow, and democratic rights will be eroded.
“The last time Doug Ford tried this, the people of Ontario stopped him,” she told the roughly 200 people gathered at the covered bridge in York Road Park.
“Bill 5 and Bill 17 are the same thing, exactly the same thing. He’s trying to do it again.”
The Guelph Climate Action Network hosted the event.
Many of those gathered brought signs, props, music and regular chants of “stop Bill 5.”
Guelph MPP Mike Schreiner said earlier this week the bill would give Ford “unprecedented powers” and allow for corporations to “ignore any law.”
On Saturday, he took his comments one step further.
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, he said.
“We are not going to take it in Ontario,” Schreiner added.
“The Premier says we have to do this to fight (US president Donald) Trump. You can’t fight Trump if you act like Trump.”
“Trump only wishes he had the power that Bill 5 grants Doug Ford.”
He admits the bill is going to get past through Queen’s Park, through several overnight sessions over the next couple of weeks.
But Schreiner said the fight has only just begun.
“The only thing that’s going to stop it is people power,” Schreiner said.
Caron said a motion for city council to denounce Bill 5 will be on the June council agenda.
“When a government ignores its own laws, it is no longer a government, it is tyranny,” Caron said.
“We are seeing from south of the border what that means. It means logging national parks, it means measles outbreaks, it means the economy isn’t protected at all. Endangered species are being ignored.”
Mike Marcolongo, the associate director with Environmental Defence, said there will be “site fights” throughout the summer months as many get organized to combat the bill.
“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,” he said.
“The environment is not red tape. Indigenous consultation is not red tape.”
After a loud rally at the covered bridge, residents marched up to city hall, before marching back to the bridge.
