Push back against Bill 5 continues to grow in Hamilton area

Ron Walker travelled from St. Catharines, Ont., to be one of about 100 people protesting Ontario's Bill 5 in Hamilton last week.

The wide-ranging legislation gives cabinet the power to suspend municipal and provincial laws for chosen projects through the creation of so-called special economic zones.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford says the new tools will help speed up development and boost the province during Canada's trade war with the United States.

Walker says it's "overreach legislation" that puts people and the environment at risk.

The academic worker at Brock University is a member of Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 4207. Growing up, Walker said he knew of a community that had been poisoned by a mercury leak — and thinks of cases like that now, worrying that Bill 5 will allow builders and officials to disregard important protections.

"That's why environmental laws are needed," Walker said.

Protesters see similarities between provincial and federal legislation

Walker is among the growing local voices opposed to Bill 5. Before the bill was passed in early June, Environment Hamilton criticized the Ford government.

Its executive director was one of nearly two dozen environmental leaders who signed an open letter to the province, saying the bill poses dangers to "the rule of law in Ontario, to species at risk, to our public health and safety, to Indigenous and Treaty rights, and to labour and employment rights."

Other local representatives to sign the letter were from Save Our Streams Hamilton and the Haudenosaunee Development Institute.

"Ontario must respect our sovereignty and the rights of First Nations if they want to 'unleash the economy in this province'," said Six Nations of the Grand River Elected Chief Sherri-Lyn Hill, in a news release in late May. 

The elected council called for the bill to be paused until further consultation was done with the community. "Pushing Bill 5 forward despite clear and strong opposition from First Nations and other groups cannot be ignored. This is not the path forward to First Nations Economic Reconciliation," the news release said. 

Many First Nations have threatened to blockade roads, railways and mines if the bill is not repealed.

Last week saw the largest public protest in the Hamilton area to date, bringing environmental, Indigenous, labour and other groups together, along with some area politicians. 

Researcher Courtney Skye, who is Mohawk, Turtle Clan, from Six Nations of the Grand River Territory, was the first to speak at the rally on the forecourt of Hamilton City Hall.

She likened Ontario's Bill 5 to the federal government's Bill C-5, which enables the federal cabinet to speed projects through the regulatory process.

Earlier in the week, Amnesty International Canada said Bill C-5 poses a "troubling threat" to the rights of Indigenous Peoples by not safeguarding their right to consent to developments affecting their territories.

The federal government says it will consult Indigenous Peoples.

"We're here with a federal government and a province that have basically said, 'Let's squeeze every last dime we can before our climate collapses on us,'" Skye said.

She works with Protect the Tract, a Haudenosaunee-led project dedicated to protecting the Haldimand Tract — the roughly 950,000-acre stretch of the province set out in the Haldimand Treaty of 1784 that curves from north of Orangeville to south of Dunnville.

She said Haudenosaunee people will "never abandon our territories," and will stand against developments they disagree with if legislators try to push them through. 

Hamilton 'birthplace for the movement that's gonna stop' Bill 5: MPP

Resisting development was a common theme of speeches delivered by Hamilton Centre MPP Robin Lennox, Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas MPP Sandy Shaw and Ontario NDP leader Marit Stiles.  

Shaw pointed to efforts in Hamilton to push back against development in the Greenbelt and to freeze the urban boundary. 

"Hamilton's gonna be the birthplace for the movement that's gonna stop and kill Bill 5. Am I right?" she said to cheers.

The rally included community groups Hamilton 350, Environment Hamilton, Hamilton and District Labour Council, and Hamilton ACORN.

It happened metres away from a protest encampment where housed and unhoused protesters, some with the Hamilton Encampment Support Network, have been demanding to speak with councillors about encampment evictions. 

At one point, a woman who said she was experiencing homelessness interrupted the rally and shared how hard living on the street is.

Ontario Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner spoke after her, saying the province should be fast-tracking housing rather than "projects for big corporations."

To cheers, he pointed to the women who'd spoken, saying, "We will kill Bill 5 and we will get housing for my friend over here."

Indigenous Affairs Minister Greg Rickford and Mining Minister Stephen Lecce said in late May that the province would amend Bill 5 to explicitly include duty to consult provisions throughout the legislation. That amendment did not end up making it in the bill, however.

Lecce has also said the environment and relations with First Nation communities remained crucial components. "We also maintain protections for the environment and fulfil our duty to consult — I think we found that balance," he added, before the bill was passed.

In an emailed statement this week, Hannah Jensen, press secretary to the premier's office, told CBC Hamilton the government is upholding high environmental standards and labour laws, while reducing review times on critical projects by 50 per cent. 

"As a next step, we are working with First Nation communities over the summer to form the regulations and criteria to create new special economic zones and Indigenous-led economic zones. No zones will be created until consultation is completed," Jensen wrote.