ERO Submission on the Draft…

ERO Submission on the Draft Regulations for Special Economic Zones Act 2025

Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade Re: ERO #025-1077

The Ontario Regional Committee of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE Ontario) is grateful for this opportunity to submit comments on the draft regulations posted for the Special Economic Zones Act 2025.

CAPE is a non-partisan, physician-led organization with over 36,000 supporters across the country and over 10,000 in Ontario. Recognizing that human health depends on the health of the environment, CAPE is committed to evidence-based decision-making that protects community and ecosystem health, advances environmental justice, and upholds Indigenous rights. As such, we are deeply concerned about the proposed regulations presented in the Special Economic Zones Act, 2025, SO 2025, c 4, Sched 9 (“Special Economic Zones Act”) and recommend that the regulations be repealed in full.

Our Concerns
These proposed regulations grant the Minister and Cabinet broad discretionary powers with poor definition of terms, conditions, and limitations that threaten to undermine evidence-based decision making; override laws and regulations relating to the environment, health and safety; and provide for little to no public review.

According to the draft regulations:

Special Economic Zones (SEZs) can be declared almost anywhere in Ontario based on Cabinet’s opinion that activities in that zone will be “economically significant” or “strategically important to the Ontario economy.”
“Trusted proponents” can be chosen by the Minister with no specification or detailed criteria designating what constitutes a “trusted” proponent. Any requirement that these proponents have a “good record of complying with legal requirements” rests solely “in the opinion of the Minister;”
For Designated Projects within SEZs, the issue of “whether work has been done to identify potential impacts on health and the environment and whether risk mitigation strategies have been identified to deal with such impacts” rests with the “opinion” of the Minister.
[italics added]

Leaving such critical decisions solely to the opinion of the Minister or Cabinet without limitation, objective criteria or regulation sets a dangerous precedent and threatens the health and well-being of all Ontarians by side-lining expert evidence-based assessments; failing to establish accountability and oversight mechanisms; removing the public’s right to consultation and appeal; and allowing for the over-riding of environmental laws that protect the health of Ontarians’ and the natural environment.

The proposed regulations grant the Minister broad powers to authorize projects without regard for Indigenous rights and sovereignty. The regulations only require that the Minister be “of the opinion” that a trusted proponent of their discretionary choosing without transparency or regulation, has “a plan for engaging and working with Indigenous communities”, and that the proponent has a “history of working successfully with Indigenous communities on projects in Canada.” Problematically, the regulations do not include any legislated requirement to consider Treaty obligations nor the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and free, prior and informed consent, nor do they address the feedback received from consultation with Indigenous communities who initially raised these issues.

Our Recommendations
CAPE maintains its position that the proposed regulations be repealed. If the regulations proceed, we make the following recommendations:

1. The proposed regulations must limit discretionary decision-making power of the Minister and establish governance mechanisms that protect the health of Ontarians and nature by ensuring that:
a. any designated project undergoes a full assessment undertaken by independent experts of the project’s environmental, health, and safety impacts and that this assessment be made public.
b. all laws and regulations relating to environmental and health protections are upheld in all Special Economic Zones without exception.
c. the public consultation and right to appeal by the public or expert organizations is explicitly recognized and upheld
d. a clear rationale for any decisions under the legislation or regulations is provided in all cases.

2. The proposed regulations must uphold Indigenous rights and sovereignty by including:
a. explicit reference to the application of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and free, prior and informed consent.
b. provisions ensuring that an assessment of any potential impacts on First Nations’ rights, health and well-being be undertaken in relation to all projects that concern Indigenous nations.
c. requirements for constitutionally adequate consultation with potentially impacted First Nations before any decisions are made

We make these recommendations at a time when world leaders are sounding the alarm about the continuing violations of Indigenous rights and the escalating health harms of climate change and environmental degradation, all of which is resulting in significant and unsustainable financial losses as well. In the face of these threats, it is incumbent upon the Government of Ontario to uphold, rather than undermine, the laws that protect human and environmental health and Indigenous rights.

Respectfully,

Dr. Mili Roy and Dr. Sehjal Bhargava
on behalf of CAPE Ontario
on@cape.ca