Ontario Premier Doug Ford says a piece of legislation written to bypass municipal and provincial laws that sparked days of protests isn’t needed after all to bring more mining to northern Ontario.
The provincial government rushed its Bill 5, the Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act, through the legislature last year to give itself the power to declare special economic zones.
Those areas, which can be decided by Ford and his cabinet, would see environmental, provincial and local laws suspended to fast-track projects.
Throughout the process — which saw large protests and demonstrations from First Nations — the government said the law was vital to bring mining developments to the mineral-rich Ring of Fire area of northern Ontario.
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It was framed by the province in the context of the U.S.-Canada tariff war as necessary to push past slow approvals and red tape.
Less than a year later, however, Ford said he doesn’t “need” the powers his government gave itself.
“We don’t need it when you have great partners — they’re excited, they want to move forward,” the premier said at a mining event in Toronto on Monday.
“What’s the reason you need it if you have incredible partners like Chief Lorraine [Cobiness] — you’re leading the way — Chief Bruce [Achneepineskum], Chief Sonny [Gagnon] at Aroland, and others right across the province. So there’s no reason to use it. Let’s move forward and get these things done.”
The proclamation is a shift in tone from last year, when the government and premier insisted they had to speed legislation through and create special economic zones to battle tariffs from the United States.
“We have been very clear,” Economic Development Minister Vic Fedeli said in June 2025. “The proposed legislation is about unlocking Ontario’s true economic potential, not overriding Indigenous rights or environmental safeguards.”
Ford had also suggested he would designate other projects, like nuclear reactors or a tunnel under Highway 401, special economic zones.
Asked on Monday if he would still designate those projects, the premier pivoted to talk about the need for economic development in the North.
Bill 5 and its powers remain in place, and the premier gave no indication he would repeal it.
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