Ontario wants to speed up mine approvals. Critics say it’s using the tariff threat as a pretext [Video]

Premier Doug Ford’s government is pushing ahead with sweeping new legislation it says will speed up the approval of mining projects in Ontario, but critics say the province is using the threat of tariffs as an excuse to loosen environmental regulations on the industry.

Called the Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act, or Bill 5, the legislation includes major changes to the province’s endangered species and environmental protection laws. It faces a committee hearing at Queen’s Park starting Thursday.

The bill also empowers the government to designate any location in the province as a “special economic zone,” and in turn allows cabinet to exempt any project or company within such a zone from having to comply with any provincial laws or regulations. 

Ford has specifically mentioned the so-called Ring of Fire mineral deposit in northern Ontario as the kind of project that could be designated a special economic zone.

When Ford announced the legislationin April, he blamed a “maze of bureaucracy, red …