Bill 5 passed in the Ontario Legislature on June 5. While recent amendments may soften its appearance, the legislation remains a direct threat to the core principles of democracy, environmental stewardship, labour rights, and Treaty responsibilities.
It grants sweeping authority to the minister responsible for municipal affairs and housing, enabling centralized decisions about land and development without meaningful input from the communities most affected.
This is not just a policy change; it is the setting of precedent. And it marks a deepening pattern of top-down control that Ontarians, particularly in the North, should be watching closely.
With over two decades of work in communications, dialogue, and community engagement, I’ve seen how quickly trust erodes when people are excluded from decisions that affect them.
In moments like this, we must look beyond the headlines. Terms like “efficiency” and “streamlining” often mask deeper issues. Who was consulted? Whose voices were ignored? Whose consent was treated as optional?
Economic instability does not justify abandoning good governance. The recent amendments to Bill 5 are largely performative. They do not resolve the core issue that centralized decisions with minimal input from the communities most affected erodes the very foundation of participatory democracy.
This is not just poor planning. It is a continuation of colonial practice.
Leadership from the Robinson-Huron Treaty, Williams Treaties, and Treaty 9 territories have been unequivocal. They have called out Bill 5 as a violation of the duty to consult. They have named it as an imposition of a unilateral vision for the North that disregards the spirit and intent of treaty relationships.
During the legislative process, Indigenous leaders, the very rights holders whose consent is constitutionally required, were not only excluded but in some cases physically removed from the House for speaking up. That is not governance. That is silencing.
Many may think this does not affect them, but if your powers are intact and your rights respected, that is not neutrality, it is privilege. When governments normalize exclusion, those impacts eventually reach us all.
Trust is the currency of democracy. It is built through transparent, inclusive processes, not slogans. When process is dismissed, cynicism grows and participation fades. Unchecked power thrives in silence.
So, if you are wondering what to watch for in moments like these, start here. Pay attention to who is silenced. Pay attention to whose knowledge is ignored. Pay attention to how political language is used to mask the exercise of power. Then ask yourself: When process is traded for speed, who wins, and who loses?
Bill 5 passed, but how it passed, and who it excluded, should concern every Ontarian. This is about more than land use and planning. This is about the erosion of trust that democracy needs in order to function. And when that trust collapses, democracy does not vanish overnight. It deteriorates quietly, until the people it was meant to serve no longer see themselves in it.
Cristin Talentino
North Bay