Ontario in 'critical time,' must speed up infrastructure projects, Ford says

Ontario Premier Doug Ford says the province must focus on accelerating infrastructure projects as it finds itself in a "critical time" against U.S. tariffs. 

"We just want to get projects moving forward as quickly as possible," he said at Queen's Park on Wednesday. 

"There's no longer time to sit around and wait 10 years as we do an [environmental assessment] and everything else." 

His comments come after the government has faced criticism for a proposed bill that would give cabinet power to create "special economic zones" and allow the government to exempt itself from following laws on certain projects. 

Ford said people need to keep working in Ontario, "and one way you do it is by building roads and highways and hospitals and schools and bridges." 

"That's what we're going to do." 

He added the government is "going to make sure that we always do" environment assessments. 

"I'm not against it, I'm just against taking five years to get one done," he said. 

Critics say the proposed legislation, known as the Protect Ontario by Unleashing Our Economy Act, is designed to ensure projects such as Ford's idea for a tunnel under Highway 401 and critical mineral mining in northern Ontario get done with little resistance.

Environmentalists have called out the Ford government over the environmental protections the province intends to strip away through the bill, which includes repealing the Endangered Species Act.

The government wants to dramatically narrow the definition of what habitat means and do away with requirements to create a strategy for how to recover at-risk species. With the bill, it also appears to give itself greater power over an independent science-based committee to add and remove species from a protected list.

The premier spoke following a virtual meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney and all other provincial and territorial leaders in the country. 

The meeting, known as a first ministers' meeting, is the first time that Carney has met with all the country's premiers since being elected last week. It also comes after Carney's visit to Washington D.C. on Tuesday, where he met with U.S. President Donald Trump for the first time. 

Ford said all the premiers congratulated Carney on his election victory but also the "restraint" the prime minister showed during the meeting with Trump.