First Nations groups file legal challenge to Ontario’s Bill 5, feds’ Bill C-5
A coalition of Ontario First Nations is taking legal action to try and throw out provincial and federal legislation designed to fast-track major projects, saying the two laws threaten their rights and “ways of life.”
Nine First Nation groups announced in a statement on Tuesday that they are bringing urgent litigation to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice to try and kill Ontario’s Bill 5 and the federal government’s Bill C-5.
The Ford government passed Bill 5 in June, which allows it to create special economic zones where municipal and provincial laws can be suspended. The opposition has referred to the areas as “no-law zones.”
Similarly, the federal Bill C-5 allows cabinet to quickly grant federal approvals for big projects deemed to be in the national interest, such as mines, ports and pipelines, by sidestepping existing laws.
Kate Kempton, senior legal counsel for the group, confirmed to Global News that the litigation was filed Monday evening. It looks to have Bill 5 struck down in its entirety, and the parts of Bill C-5 that allow for major project designation also to be killed.
Get daily National news
Get the day’s top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.
Alderville First Nation Chief Taynar Simpson said in a statement that the laws cut out local communities from key consultations.
“These laws authorize the Crown governments to approve on a fast track major projects like Ring of Fire mining and pipelines, by short circuiting the need to get critical information about human and environmental safety and impacts,” he said.
“Our case is not a fight against development, it is a fight against dangerous development pushed ahead by factless, thoughtless and reckless decision making from government Ministers behind closed doors with little accountability.”
Attawapiskat First Nation Chief Sylvia Koostachin-Metatawabin pointed out the dangers of using the legislation in the remote, mineral-rich Ring of Fire, in particular.
“In the Ring of Fire area, this could be disastrous,” she said. “That region is peatlands, which is a globally critical carbon sink that must stay intact if it is to counter climate change. If parts of it are destroyed through mining and infrastructure, this could unravel the whole thing.”
The Ford government has confirmed it plans to designate the Ring of Fire as a special economic zone. In June, Premier Doug Ford said he wanted to do that as “quickly as possible.”
He also suggested he would make the James Bay deep-sea port, nuclear power projects, a tunnel under Highway 401 and parts of the GO network special economic zones.
Global News contacted the federal and provincial governments for comment.
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.