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Global News
7 days ago
- Business
- Global News
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. Story continues below advertisement 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. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 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. Story continues below advertisement 'The government will not be able to do all of its amendments,' Hsu predicted. 1:46 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. Story continues below advertisement '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.'
CTV News
12-05-2025
- Business
- CTV News
After Ontario backtracks on landfill study, Liberals seek probe into donor links
The former Dresden landfill seen just north of Dresden, Ont. (Michelle Maluske/CTV News Windsor) TORONTO — The Ontario Liberals have asked the integrity commissioner to investigate the province's decision to backtrack on an environmental assessment of a massive landfill expansion project backed by Progressive Conservative donors. The Liberals want the integrity commissioner to look at whether Premier Doug Ford's government gave the project special treatment because its developers are lucrative donors to his party. 'The actions of the Ford government around the expansion of the Dresden landfill undermine trust in our political system and raise serious questions about the potential influence of money on public policy,' said Liberal member of provincial parliament Ted Hsu, who requested the investigation. 'Today, we're confronting a troubling question: is public policy in Ontario for sale?' The 30-fold expansion of a dormant landfill north of the rural farming community of Dresden in Chatham-Kent has spawned local backlash and concerns about possible ecological effects. Citing the community's concerns, the government ordered an environmental assessment for the project last year. But now, the province plans to revoke that assessment under a controversial omnibus bill working its way through the legislature. The premier's office and environment minister maintain it's necessary because getting the project done quickly is the best way to ensure the long-term stability of a waste system that is nearing its capacity. Environment Minister Todd McCarthy said the province can't afford to keep shipping a large share of its waste to the United States, suggesting Ontario is facing a landfill capacity 'crisis.' He said Monday that the site would still be subject to other environmental laws and oversight. 'I will stand for strong environmental oversight in Dresden. I can assure the residents of that, I can ensure Ontarians of that, but we must address our landfill capacity challenges. We will be out of landfill within a decade if we do nothing. We are taking action,' he said during question period. The Liberals fired back by suggesting the government was leveraging the U.S. trade war to push through policy that would benefit insiders at the expense of transparency and accountability to local residents. They also questioned whether the flip-flop was timed to coincide with a local byelection. The province initially announced it would pursue the environmental assessment in March 2024. Shortly after that, the premier called a byelection in the local riding of Lambton-Kent-Middlesex, where the successful PC candidate Steve Pinsonneault campaigned against the expansion. Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie called it a 'question of integrity.' 'You promise one thing during a byelection, and then you quietly walk it back when no one's listening, no one is paying attention months or one year later: that's the issue for us,' she said Monday. Pinsonneault's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The integrity commissioner's office said it was reviewing the Liberals' request. York1, the company behind the project, is seeking to revive the dormant landfill about a kilometre north of Dresden and expand it to service waste from across the province. Details of the developers' donations and lobbying efforts were first reported by The Trillium, a Queen's Park-based news outlet, and were cited by the Liberals in their letter to the integrity commissioner. The Trillium reported that executives at the companies and their family members had donated about $200,000 to the PCs since 2018. The Canadian Press has corroborated some of those political contributions recorded in a public Elections Ontario database. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Under the proposal, a small landfill dating back to the 1960s that holds 40,000 cubic metres of waste could be expanded to a total of 1.6 million cubic metres, enough to fill almost 650 Olympic-sized swimming pools. Officials have said the company also wants to establish waste processing stations to receive up to 6,000 tonnes of waste per day, even though existing permits for the property dating back to 1998 only allow for a tiny fraction of that amount. Half the waste would come from a range of sources, including some 500 tonnes of asbestos-containing waste, according to municipal documents. The other half would be soil and 'soil-like materials,' including contaminated soil. If approved, Chatham-Kent's mayor has argued the project would have a 'devastating impact' on the community and those around it. 'Only through a full environmental assessment process will the impacts of this proposal be fully understood, and we are confident that such a process would show that a landfill, recycling and waste facility cannot be located this close to a vibrant and historic town,' wrote Darrin Canniff in a letter to the environment minister posted publicly earlier this month. The municipality had previously raised concerns about a lack of consultation by the company and its initial proposal's apparent lack of relevant research. In letters to the province, the municipality suggested no studies had been conducted on potential effects to noise, air quality, traffic and human health, while only minimal information was available on how the project would affect ground and surface water resources. The property is surrounded by prime agricultural land. The water around the site streams into the Sydenham River, home to some endangered species, including the spiny softshell turtle. An environmental assessment would have had to consider alternative designs or locations for the project. In a statement, the premier's office echoed the environment minister's comments about strong environmental oversights and protections, as well as Ontario's strained landfill capacity. 'The people of Ontario have spoken loud and clear — they want a government that will do whatever it takes to protect Ontario, to build a province that is more resilient, self-reliant and able to withstand anything that comes our way. That is exactly what our government will deliver,' the statement read. The Liberals said the landfill flip-flop echoes other recent controversial moves that appear to trample local opposition, pointing to Ford's now-reversed decision to open protected Greenbelt lands for development, the use of ministerial zoning orders to override municipal decisions and his government's handling of the Ontario Place redevelopment. The legislation that would nix the environmental assessment, Bill 5, is under broader scrutiny. While its stated aim is to speed up mining and infrastructure projects, critics have suggested it would give cabinet too much authority to exempt the government from labour and environmental laws. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 12, 2025. Jordan Omstead, The Canadian Press
