In a virtual meeting on August 20, the Chiefs of Ontario, an organization representing 133 First Nations communities, voted in favour of legal action. Similarly, a coalition of environmental groups, including Ecojustice, Greenpeace Canada and the Wilderness Committee, filed a lawsuit against the Ford government on August 10, alleging the province’s lack of public consultation on environmental changes in its economic recovery bill is unlawful.The Ontario legislature passed Bill 197 in July despite objections from opposition parties and a warning about the legality of the legislation from the auditor general. Aimed at stimulating economic growth, the COVID-19 Economic Recovery Act, 2020 amended 20 existing pieces of legislation including the EA process, to facilitate development. GBA strongly opposes the changes to the EA process in this bill, and is continuing to work with our partners on next steps. Read more on the legal challenges here.
Additional background information on Bill 197 can be found here.