Province promotes new bill that would speed up mine approvals, but environmentalists say it comes at a cost
The Protect Ontario by Unleashing Our Economy Act would streamline government approvals
Ontario Minister of Energy and Mines Stephen Lecce says new legislation tabled at Queen's Park will cut government review times for new mines by half, but environmentalists argue that will be done by reducing protections for species at risk.
Lecce was in Sudbury on Thursday where he promoted the province's newly tabled Bill 5, also known as the Protect Ontario by Unleashing Our Economy Act.
The legislation would create what the provincial government calls a "one project, one process" framework that would streamline environmental approvals for new mines.
A dedicated mine authorization and permitting delivery team with the Ministry of Energy and Mines would streamline all approvals for new mines into one process.
Lecce called it a "commitment to reduce the time it takes to move with a sense of urgency while still maintaining the highest standards of environmental protection while fully respecting Indigenous duty to consult."
He said it's especially important to speed up mine development in the face of a trade war and rhetoric from the U.S. government threatening Canada's sovereignty.
"This is our moment as Canadians, I think, to seize the potential before us," Lecce said.
"Here we are at a time when our country is under attack with an opportunity to lean in, to scale up, with a sense of ambition and hope, to be self-reliant, strong economic powerhouse in the world."
Lecce said he expects the new law to come into effect in the fall.
'Watered down' protections
Environmental groups have argued the legislation streamlines new mine approvals by repealing Ontario's existing Endangered Species Act passed in 2007, and replacing it with a watered down version called the Species Conservation Act.
"This won't speed up projects. It will be catastrophic for wildlife," Laura Bowman, a staff lawyer for Ecojustice Canada, told CBC News.
"What we're headed toward, if this bill goes ahead, is really just abandoning species protection."
Katie Krelove, the Ontario campaigner for a conservation organization called the Wilderness Committee, said the new legislation would significantly narrow the definition of a species habitat and give the provincial government the power to ignore scientific recommendations.
"It will remove the requirements to create a recovery plan for endangered species and altogether remove provincial protections for migratory birds and aquatic species," she said.
Krelove said she found it ironic that the bill was framed as a way to stand up to U.S. President Donald Trump and strengthen Canada's economic sovereignty.
"Now it's pulling directly from the U.S. president's playbook by scrapping environmental protection and handing blank checks to select big industries and developers," she said.
During his press conference in Sudbury, Lecce told reporters the new legislation includes a commitment to quadruple funding for the Species Conservation Program.
But Krelove said the program is designed to rehabilitate habitats that have already been destroyed, instead of protecting them in the first place.
"Habitat destruction and degradation is by far the number one cause of species decline in the province," she said.
Krelove said people across Ontario should be concerned about protecting species at risk because their habitats are signs of healthy ecosystems that can prevent flooding in certain areas and sequester carbon, mitigating climate change.