{"id":97874,"date":"2025-10-06T08:24:59","date_gmt":"2025-10-06T12:24:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=97874"},"modified":"2025-10-06T08:24:59","modified_gmt":"2025-10-06T12:24:59","slug":"public-gets-a-say-on-ontario-plan-for-special-economic-zones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/06\/public-gets-a-say-on-ontario-plan-for-special-economic-zones\/","title":{"rendered":"Public gets a say on Ontario plan for Special Economic Zones"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Abdul Matin Sarfraz \/ Canada\u2019s National Observer \/ Local Journalism Initiative, Canada&#8217;s National Observer For the first time since passing its contentious Bill 5, the Ford government is proposing rules for how Special Economic Zones will work and asking for public comment. The move comes after months of pushback from municipalities, experts, First Nations and advocates who warned the law is one of the most sweeping environmental rollbacks in Ontario\u2019s history, sidelining science, public input and Indigenous rights. Under Bill 5, which is widely seen as favouring developers and extractive industries, Special Economic Zones gave the government sweeping powers to override provincial laws, environmental assessments and consultations to fast-track major projects. In its draft framework posted Thursday, the government says the criteria are meant to ensure Special Economic Zones&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription &#8211; Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2025%2F10%2F06%2Fpublic-gets-a-say-on-ontario-plan-for-special-economic-zones%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Abdul Matin Sarfraz \/ Canada\u2019s National Observer \/ Local Journalism Initiative, Canada&#8217;s National Observer For the first time since passing its contentious Bill 5, the Ford government is proposing rules for how Special Economic Zones will work and asking for public comment. The move comes after months of pushback from municipalities, experts, First Nations and advocates who warned the law is one of the most sweeping environmental rollbacks in Ontario\u2019s history, sidelining science, public input and Indigenous rights. Under Bill 5, which is widely seen as favouring developers and extractive industries, Special Economic Zones gave the government sweeping powers to override provincial laws, environmental assessments and consultations to fast-track major projects. In its draft framework posted Thursday, the government says the criteria are meant to ensure Special Economic Zones... <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\"><div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\"><div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div><div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2025%2F10%2F06%2Fpublic-gets-a-say-on-ontario-plan-for-special-economic-zones%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-97874","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Public gets a say on Ontario plan for Special Economic Zones - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/06\/public-gets-a-say-on-ontario-plan-for-special-economic-zones\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Public gets a say on Ontario plan for Special Economic Zones - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Abdul Matin Sarfraz \/ Canada\u2019s National Observer \/ Local Journalism Initiative, Canada&#8217;s National Observer For the first time since passing its contentious Bill 5, the Ford government is proposing rules for how Special Economic Zones will work and asking for public comment. The move comes after months of pushback from municipalities, experts, First Nations and advocates who warned the law is one of the most sweeping environmental rollbacks in Ontario\u2019s history, sidelining science, public input and Indigenous rights. Under Bill 5, which is widely seen as favouring developers and extractive industries, Special Economic Zones gave the government sweeping powers to override provincial laws, environmental assessments and consultations to fast-track major projects. In its draft framework posted Thursday, the government says the criteria are meant to ensure Special Economic Zones\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/06\/public-gets-a-say-on-ontario-plan-for-special-economic-zones\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-10-06T12:24:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/06\\\/public-gets-a-say-on-ontario-plan-for-special-economic-zones\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/06\\\/public-gets-a-say-on-ontario-plan-for-special-economic-zones\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"Public gets a say on Ontario plan for Special Economic Zones\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-06T12:24:59+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/06\\\/public-gets-a-say-on-ontario-plan-for-special-economic-zones\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":846,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"National News\",\"ticker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/06\\\/public-gets-a-say-on-ontario-plan-for-special-economic-zones\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/06\\\/public-gets-a-say-on-ontario-plan-for-special-economic-zones\\\/\",\"name\":\"Public gets a say on Ontario plan for Special Economic Zones - 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