Milk Act to Bike Month: How Liberals are trying to slow Bill 5 with 4,000 amendments
The Ontario Liberals have tabled more than 4,000 amendments to the province's controversial Bill 5 in a last-gasp attempt to slow its progress during the final day of committee and force the government to delay passing it into law.
Bill 5 is the Ford government's mining legislation, which has sparked protests from First Nations leaders and environmental advocates over the planned creation of so-called special economic zones, where projects and companies could bypass laws.
The proposed legislation's final day of committee hearings is Tuesday, with plans from the government to pass it into law before the end of the week, when MPPs rise for the summer break.
The legislation got stuck in committee last week, after the Liberals and NDP came together to run out the clock on debate and force another day of hearings on the bill.
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In response, the government tabled a time allocation motion, which cancels debate on any further amendments in committee and demands the draft legislation return to the house from committee for a third reading on Wednesday, regardless of whether all amendments have been addressed.
As part of a desperate final attempt to slow the government's progress and force it to consider the bill over the summer, the Liberals have tabled thousands of amendments. The aim, again, is to run out the clock.
While the number of amendments won't affect when committee wraps up — scheduled for midnight — the Liberals hope they can stop the government from passing its own changes to the bill.
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The amendments tabled by the Liberals range from the serious to the absurd and number 4,022 in total. Amendments are voted on in the order the bill is laid out, so the party is attempting to stop the government from getting to its own amendments to the latter parts of the bill.
'The amendments aren't even read out, there's just going to be vote after vote after vote after vote,' Ontario Liberal MPP Ted Hsu said. 'With 4,000 amendments, that's enough amendments to get us through the 10.5 hours of committee meetings the government has scheduled.'
During committee, the Progressive Conservatives introduced a number of tweaks and changes to their own legislation after backlash from First Nations leaders, emphasizing the government's respect for the duty to consult.
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'The government will not be able to do all of its amendments,' Hsu predicted.
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First Nations members protest Ontario mining bill at Queen's Park
Progressive Conservative House Leader Steve Clark, who is in charge of the government's legislative plan and strategy, would not be drawn on whether or not the Liberal strategy would frustrate Bill 5's progress further.
'We'll let the committee do its work and we'll deal with what the bill looks like to be reported back to the house when the committee's done at midnight,' he said.
During question period, government ministers said the Liberal strategy was 'unserious' — pointing to some of the more obscure amendments used to get the party past 4,000.
'The Liberals had four weeks to prepare and file amendments if they thought the legislation needed to be strengthened,' Trade Minister Vic Fedeli said.
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'Here's what they put forward instead: A motion to assure that no exemptions are made to the requirements of the Milk Act. Their next motion was to ensure no exemptions are made to the requirements of the 2015 Ontario Bike Month Act. Then they put a motion to ensure no exemptions are made to the requirements of the Nikola Tesla Day Act.'
The NDP, which worked with the Liberals last week to delay Bill 5 through a lengthy filibuster, appear not to be on board with the third party's strategy and wants to see the government forced to vote in favour, or against, the most controversial parts of the legislation.
'The fight against Bill 5 will not end tomorrow, when this legislation inevitably is passed by this government,' NDP Leader Marit Stiles said. 'It's not over yet. We've seen the government come back and have to repeal legislation like Bill 28, Bill 124 and the Greenbelt grab.'
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