By Anushka Yadav, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Pointer In just 49 days, the Doug Ford PC government pushed through Bill 5, despite strong opposition from Indigenous communities, legal experts, civil society organizations and environmental advocates. The justification? The Premier and his PC MPPs have declared that Ontario is engaged in an “economic war” with the United States, and extraordinary measures are necessary. But critics say this crisis framing masks a deeper truth: the policy direction behind Bill 5, dubbed the Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act, was already underway well before trade tensions were ever on the radar. Central to the legislation is the Special Economic Zones Act, or Schedule 9, which gives sweeping authority to the Lieutenant Governor in Council to designate special economic zones (SEZs) and…
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