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Doug Ford's Bill 5 is now law in Ontario. Here's what happens next
Now that Ontario's controversial Bill 5 is law, all eyes are on what Premier Doug Ford does with the new powers it gives his government. Bill 5, also called the Protecting Ontario by Unleashing Our Economy Act, empowers the government (among other things) to create special economic zones, where cabinet can exempt companies or projects from having to comply with any provincial law, provincial regulation or municipal bylaw. Ford pitches Bill 5 as a way of shoring up Ontario's economy in the face of Donald Trump's tariffs by speeding up major infrastructure and resource projects. Ford's officials insist the government won't exempt any company in a special economic zone from Ontario's minimum wage rules or other labour laws. But the wide-open way the legislation is written would allow cabinet to hand out exemptions from any law, whether labour, environmental or operational. Asked this week which laws he's considering overriding with Bill 5 — and whether any laws are off the table for such exemptions — Ford offered no specifics. WATCH | Your quick guide to Bill 5: "I just want to speed up the process," he said during a news conference on Thursday, moments after Bill 5 received Royal Assent, making it law. Ford then talked of how long it takes for a mine to get into production, an issue that is actually tackled in a different part of Bill 5: revisions to the Mining Act designed to shorten Ontario's approval process to two years from the current four years. Pressed again on which laws he would exempt companies from in the special economic zones, Ford said every situation is different. Ford wants to move 'as quickly as possible' "Let's see what companies come to the table, and depending on how quickly we can get opportunities and jobs, we'll reveal them," Ford said. Ford wants Ontario's first special economic zone to be the Ring of Fire mineral deposit, some 500 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay, in the heart of Treaty 9 territory. The area is said to be full of so-called critical minerals, such as cobalt, lithium and nickel, in high demand for the tech industry. The premier said on Thursday that he wants to make the Ring of Fire a special economic zone "as quickly as possible" but has also said he won't do so without consulting with First Nations Energy and Mines Minister Stephen Lecce says the province is already "consulting meaningfully" with First Nations and will continue to do so over the coming months. "We're all going to be part of this endeavour to really listen to those voices and help build a common vision for responsible resource development that unlocks the bounty of the resource, to change the lives of northerners and to ensure Indigenous share in that bounty," Lecce said alongside Ford at Thursday's news conference inside Queen's Park. The skepticism from many First Nations leaders is palpable. The Chiefs of Ontario invited Ford to attend their annual assembly June 17 to 19 and sent Ford a message that his attendance would mark the start of consultations on Bill 5. "This legislation, introduced without prior consultation with First Nations rights holders, raises serious concerns due to its far-reaching implications on inherent Treaty rights and community obligations to the land, waters, and wildlife," says the invitation letter from Ontario Regional Chief Abram Benedict. The Chiefs of Ontario, the umbrella group representing more than 130 First Nations across the province, are warning of "resistance, on the ground, and in the courts" against Bill 5. WATCH | What the 'duty to consult' First Nations means for governments: One thing to watch for in the months to come is whether the provincial government's push to fast-track the Ring of Fire is replicated by the federal government. Ford put the Ring of Fire at the top of his list presented to Prime Minister Mark Carney for consideration as a potential nation-building project. Ford calls Carney 'Santa Claus' Carney asked all the premiers to come to last Monday's First Ministers Meeting in Saskatoon with their ideas of projects that would be "in the national interest," either by helping to diversify the Canadian economy or to reach new export markets. It's now up to Carney to decide which projects merit federal backing, whether through fast-track approvals or funding. Ford described Carney as Santa Claus for this approach. But to make the metaphor accurate, it means Ford and his fellow premiers have merely written their letters to Santa Claus, and they now have to wait until Christmas comes to find out whether Santa brings them what they asked for. The other items on Ford's list are also projects that could be designated special economic zones: new nuclear power plants, a new deep-sea port on James Bay, Ford's vision of a tunnel under Highway 401 through Toronto, and an expansion of the GO Transit network. If Carney endorses any of these, you can expect the Ford government will use its Bill 5 powers to speed up the process of moving that project from endorsement to reality. On Friday, Carney's Liberals tabled a bill in the House of Commons called the One Canadian Economy Act, designed in part to speed up the approval process of major infrastructure projects, a goal similar to Ontario's Bill 5. One line in the text of Bill 5 says its purpose is making Ontario "the best place in the G7 to invest, create jobs and do business." Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade Minister Vic Fedeli, whose chief role is attracting companies to the province, says investors around the world are hoarding capital in hopes of some economic certainty. Will Bill 5 attract investment? "That capital that's building up needs to unleash, and we want them to know that when they come to Ontario, it can be unleashed very quickly here," Fedeli said at the news conference alongside Ford and Lecce. Having Bill 5 powers on the books means Ontario could try to entice investors to set up shop in a special economic zone, but officials won't say whether that incentive is now being dangled at any particular companies. More questions remain on how exactly the government will use other powers it obtained through Bill 5, such as the power to ignore the independent scientific committee that determines whether a species is endangered or threatened in Ontario. You can expect a backlash from conservation groups whenever the government uses that power, for instance by scrapping measures that would protect the habitat of a species at risk. What's unknown is when, where and with what species the government will take such a step. Another 'watch this space' related to Bill 5: what happens with the expansion of a landfill on the edge of the southwestern Ontario town of Dresden, which the legislation exempts from having to go through a comprehensive environmental assessment. Local residents say they're not giving up their efforts to halt the project, while the company behind is welcoming the opportunity of "moving forward with our plan."
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2 High-Growth Stocks to Buy and Hold for Great Long-Term Potential
CoreWeave is a promising stock to use to profit from the growing investment in AI infrastructure services. Axon stock recently hit new highs as it continues to report growing demand for its public safety solutions. 10 stocks we like better than CoreWeave › Investing in fast-growing companies that still have a large opportunity ahead for their products can help you build wealth. Artificial intelligence (AI) and public safety are promising industries to look for investments in 2025. Here are two stocks to ride these megatrends. AI is expected to add trillions in value to the economy over the long term, but this first requires substantial investment in data centers specially designed to handle AI computing workloads. CoreWeave (NASDAQ: CRWV) is a leader in offering AI infrastructure through the cloud for training models and other advanced workloads at scale. CoreWeave's revenue has exploded over the last year, growing from $189 million in Q1 2024 to $982 million in Q1 2025. Management expects 2025 revenue to be between $4.9 billion to $5.1 billion. For a long-term investor, CoreWeave is a unique stock with which to ride the growth of AI. It earns revenue through multiyear contracts or on-demand services, but most of its revenue is through committed contracts. This business model instills steady revenue and growing cash flows over time. The business is in the process of investing in technology to meet growing demand for its services. It reported a loss of $314 million last quarter. This mostly reflects the high upfront investment it's making in infrastructure, such as Nvidia's graphics processing units (GPUs), to offer its AI cloud platform to customers. However, CoreWeave is already showing the potential to be a very profitable business down the road. In Q1, its adjusted operating income increased 17% year over year to $163 million. But until it achieves higher margins, investors should expect the stock to be volatile. This is a world-class AI infrastructure provider that is trading at a price-to-sales multiple of 13 based on management's 2025 guidance. This is based on the company's current market cap (share price times shares outstanding) of $64 billion. Investors buying around this valuation can still expect to earn excellent returns over the next several years. Axon Enterprise (NASDAQ: AXON) (formerly Taser International) started over 30 years ago selling its Taser energy devices for law enforcement and self-defense. In recent years, the company has transformed into a services company with software solutions. This has grown its addressable market to an estimated $129 billion. Axon offers cloud-based evidence gathering software and body cameras, which has transformed the business from a device seller to a comprehensive solutions provider for public safety. Revenue from software and services grew 39% year over year to $263 million last quarter. Taser devices remain a key growth driver for the company. Since launching a few years ago, Taser 10 orders are growing twice as fast as the adoption of Taser 7. This indicates an expanding market for its products, which is a great sign for investors buying shares today. Axon's total revenue grew 31% year over year last quarter to $604 million. Axon is also benefiting from strong demand for Draft One, a service that uses AI to automatically fill out data entries and police reports. It saves hours of time from manual work, which has made it the fastest-growing software offering in Axon's history. Taser is potentially vulnerable to risks that investors should be aware of. It generates some revenue from government contracts, making it susceptible to spending cuts and higher compliance costs that could pressure its profit margin. It could also face public backlash and resistance from privacy concerns over its body camera products. But Axon's history shows that the need for enhanced public safety tools continues to grow. The stock surged to new highs following its first-quarter earnings report, which can be taken as a bullish signal on the company's future. Before you buy stock in CoreWeave, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and CoreWeave wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $669,517!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $868,615!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 792% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 171% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 2, 2025 John Ballard has positions in CoreWeave and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Axon Enterprise and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. 2 High-Growth Stocks to Buy and Hold for Great Long-Term Potential was originally published by The Motley Fool
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This Little-Known Social Security Rule Could Boost Your Monthly Check Up to 26.7%, Even if You're Already Collecting Benefits
Many seniors feel the buying power of Social Security has declined over the years. If you want the maximum possible benefit you're eligible to receive, you need to delay claiming until age 70. Many who claimed earlier can still boost their benefits by taking advantage of this little-known rule. The $23,760 Social Security bonus most retirees completely overlook › The average retiree collecting Social Security receives about $2,000 per month from the government program. And while that number has gone up significantly over the last few years as a result of the annual cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, many seniors feel their Social Security checks still don't go as far as they used to. The Senior Citizens League estimates someone who received Social Security back in 2010 now has 20% less buying power from their monthly benefits compared to 15 years ago. As such, it's natural for seniors to look for ways to get more out of Social Security. While there are several ways you could receive a bump in benefits, only a few of them are in your control. One of the easiest ways to increase your benefit takes advantage of a little-known rule that could boost your monthly check up to 26.7%. Here's what Social Security recipients need to know. Before we dive into how to increase your Social Security check, it's important to understand how the government calculates it. There are only three factors that go into determining the size of your benefit: How much you earned during your career When you were born When you claim benefits When you apply for Social Security, the government takes a look at your past earnings from every year of your career. It adjusts each years' earnings for inflation, indexed to the year you turned 60. Any earnings after age 60 don't get an inflation adjustment. It then selects the 35 highest years of adjusted earnings from your career and calculates the monthly average earnings from that sample. The resulting number gets plugged into the Social Security benefits formula to determine your primary insurance amount. Your primary insurance amount, or PIA, is the amount of Social Security you're eligible to receive if you apply for benefits the exact month you reach full retirement age. That age is determined by when you were born. If you were born between 1943 and 1954, you reached full retirement age at 66. The age increases by 2 months for each year you were born after 1954 until maxing out at age 67 for anyone born in 1960 or later. The last factor that determines your monthly benefit is when you decide to claim. If you claim Social Security before you reach full retirement age, you'll receive less than your PIA. If you wait, you'll see an increase in your monthly benefit up until age 70. To be precise, each month you delay Social Security beyond your full retirement age increases your monthly benefit by 2/3 of a percentage point of your PIA. So, someone born in 1958 with a full retirement age of 66 and 8 months could delay for 40 months for a 26.7% boost to their benefit. If you claimed your benefits early, there's good news. You can still get that boost of up to 26.7% on top of your current benefit. You just have to take advantage of this one rule. If you've already claimed Social Security, you can opt to suspend your benefits upon reaching full retirement age. If you've already reached the threshold age but remain younger than 70, you can suspend benefits starting next month. Doing so will allow you to start accruing credits that will increase your monthly benefit amount once you resume collecting it. Benefits will automatically resume starting at age 70 if you haven't restarted them already. Someone born in late 1958 still has time to apply to suspend benefits the month they reach full retirement age and increase their monthly check by the maximum 26.7%. Note, you'll still see the annual COLA adjustment while benefits are suspended, so the actual increase will be even greater. Of course, there are some significant drawbacks to this strategy. First and foremost, it means going without your monthly Social Security check for several years. If you aren't in a position where you can forego benefits today in exchange for a bigger benefit later, then it's probably not worth the financial maneuvering required to take advantage of the option. However, if you can do without, the guaranteed return from suspending benefits is very appealing. Second, if someone else is collecting benefits based on your earnings record, they'll no longer be eligible for those benefits. If your spouse is taking spousal benefits or your child is eligible through you, they'll see their benefits disappear or revert to any other smaller benefit they're eligible for. That could negatively impact your household income for the time being, but in many cases it's worth it in the long run. Lastly, if you're enrolled in Medicare Part B, the Social Security Administration automatically deducts your premiums from your monthly benefit. Be sure you can afford to pay those premiums out of pocket before you suspend Social Security. If you can manage those challenges, though, opting to suspend benefits could be worth it. You can request a suspension by phone, in writing, or in person at your local Social Security office. The suspension begins the month after your request is accepted. So, if you're fast approaching full retirement age, it's time to get things in order if you think suspending benefits and boosting your monthly payment is right for you. If you're like most Americans, you're a few years (or more) behind on your retirement savings. But a handful of little-known could help ensure a boost in your retirement income. One easy trick could pay you as much as $23,760 more... each year! Once you learn how to maximize your Social Security benefits, we think you could retire confidently with the peace of mind we're all after. Join Stock Advisor to learn more about these Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This Little-Known Social Security Rule Could Boost Your Monthly Check Up to 26.7%, Even if You're Already Collecting Benefits was originally published by The Motley Fool
