Ontario NDP, Liberals successfully stall Bill 5 after filibustering until midnight Thursday
CBC
Bill 5 was successfully stalled in committee after Ontario NDP and Liberal MPPs filibustered from around 4 p.m. on Wednesday until midnight Thursday.
The filibuster has blocked the controversial bill from going into its third and final reading, as the committee process will now continue into next week, Ontario NDP said in a statement on X just after midnight on Thursday.
The MPPs "used every committee tool to delay progress [on] Ford's attempt to rush through this legislation without proper consultation," the statement said.
Leader of the Offical Opposition Marit Stiles participated in the filibuster. She addressed Ontario Premier Doug Ford directly in a post on X around 12:20 a.m. Thursday.
"Your government now has the time and opportunity to do the right thing: Scrap Bill 5. Let's go back to the drawing board, and do this right," the post read.
Speaking at Queen's Park on Wednesday evening, Ontario NDP MPP Sol Mamakwa said the MPPs would debate the 40 clauses in the amendment, line-by-line, during the filibuster.
"We cannot stop the bill, but we can certainly slow down the processes that are there," Mamakwa said.
Monday is the earliest the committee process can continue, Liberal MPP Ted Hsu said in a video on X around 1 a.m. Thursday.
The controversial Bill 5 has been criticized by First Nations, environmentalists and legal advocates, who have said the proposed law would gut environmental protections for wildlife and infringe on treaty rights.
Bill 5, which will likely pass next week, would create so-called "special economic zones" where the government can exempt companies or projects from complying with provincial laws or regulations.
The Ford government put forward amendments to the bill on Wednesday in response to criticism, including that the government will also create "Indigenous led economic zones." But opposition leaders say the government hasn't defined what this means.
The government also introduced what are known as duty to consult provisions.
"Regulations under this Act shall be made in a manner consistent with the recognition and affirmation of existing Aboriginal and treaty rights in section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982, including the duty to consult," the proposed amendment reads, according to an email from the premier's office Wednesday.
But First Nations leaders in Ontario say the government already failed in its duty to consult. They want the province to start over and involve First Nations in drafting a new bill.
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