Stop Bill 5

image of Stop Bill 5

The Georgian Bay Association is seriously concerned about the effect of Bill 5, Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act, 2025, a sweeping omnibus bill aimed at opening mining opportunities in Ontario's Ring of Fire. This bill will make massive changes to the requirements for protecting endangered species and archaeological sites in the province. Bill 5 empowers the Ontario government to designate “special economic zones” which are exempted from provincial laws and municipal by-laws to expedite development.

If passed, this legislation will:

Repeal the provincial Endangered Species Act and replace it with the much weaker Species Conservation Act, 2025 ...

The Georgian Bay Association is seriously concerned about the effect of Bill 5, Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act, 2025, a sweeping omnibus bill aimed at opening mining opportunities in Ontario's Ring of Fire. This bill will make massive changes to the requirements for protecting endangered species and archaeological sites in the province. Bill 5 empowers the Ontario government to designate “special economic zones” which are exempted from provincial laws and municipal by-laws to expedite development.

If passed, this legislation will:

Repeal the provincial Endangered Species Act and replace it with the much weaker Species Conservation Act, 2025
Allow development to begin immediately after online registration, rather than after environmental review
Transfer responsibility for listing protected species to the cabinet, rather than the expert Committee on the Status of Species at Risk in Ontario, and eliminate requirements for Ontario to review recovery and stewardship for protected species
Alter the Ontario Heritage Act to allow cabinet to exempt development projects from archaeological assessments, which play a role in preserving Indigenous history and culture

These changes threaten Ontario’s vulnerable habitats and call into question the province's commitment to consult with Indigenous communities.

+

Email your MPP

Send an email to your MPP and ask them to withdraw Bill 5 and reaffirm Ontario’s commitment to environmental stewardship!

Your email will be cc'd to:

Premier Doug Ford
Hon. Greg Rickford, Minister of Indigenous Affairs
Hon. Todd McCarthy, Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks

Find your local rep

Subject:

I am writing to express my strong opposition to Bill 5, Protect Ontario by Unleashing Our Economy Act, 2025. This omnibus legislation dismantles key parts of Ontario's environmental protections and introduces uncertainty about the province’s commitments to Indigenous communities.

First and foremost, the bill replaces the Endangered Species Act with a weakened framework that prioritizes development over the protection of at-risk wildlife. If passed, it would:

- Allow development to begin immediately after online registration rather than after environmental review

- Transfer responsibility for listing protected species to Cabinet, rather than the expert Committee on the Status of Species at Risk in Ontario

- Eliminate requirements for Ontario to review its progress towards species protection and abandon long-term goals such as recovery and stewardship for protected species

Furthermore, Bill 5 would override provincial laws and municipal by-laws in designated areas and exempt projects from archaeological assessments, disregarding Indigenous cultural heritage. This approach ignores the importance of meaningful consultation with affected communities and undermines the integrity of Ontario's environmental safeguards.

I urge you to support evidence-based environmental protection and oppose Bill 5. We can support economic growth without sacrificing our natural heritage. Please call for the immediate withdrawal of this bill.

How we use the data you enter on this form

Do Gooder (the advocacy platform powering this online action) processes personal information from you that you enter on this form so that we can provide the functions and related services to you and The Campaigner (the organisation responsible for this online action) for their legitimate purposes, including possibly exporting it to other systems, and to effectively respond to enquiries and communications related to those services.

Specifically when you enter:

Your location data (residential address or postcode) it is used to locate your elected representative, to pre-populate your email signature and to provide The Campaigner with a visualisation of the location of the support for this campaign.
All other data you may enter, including your email address, name, telephone number, commentary and so on is used by The Campaigner to advocate for the campaign’s goals and where required may be sent to the target of the campaign.

The data collected by Do Gooder is also used by us in aggregate form to improve the service and may be held on your behalf outside your country of residence by our third party service providers. These providers are bound by contract to only use personal information on our behalf, in accordance with agreed terms. While the privacy laws of the country in which personal information is stored or transferred may be different from those in your country, we will always have safeguards in place when storing or transferring personal information. We will never sell, rent, loan or in any other way pass your information on to other parties other than to provide this service to you and The Campaigner.

The personal information collected by Do Gooder is held subject to a Data Processing Agreement between Do Gooder and The Campaigner in compliance with the EU's GDPR and Australian law.

Learn more about our privacy policy here

How is my data used?