ERO #025-1077 - Consultation…

ERO #025-1077 - Consultation on Proposed Special Economic Zones Criteria.

The subjective language in the guidelines should be clearly defined or replaced with language that sets out clear criteria.

At present, the language in the guidelines means that cabinet can approve anything it deems important, at any size.

1. The disproportionate reliance on the “opinion of the Minister” to make key determinations fundamentally undermines the purpose of developing criteria in the first instance.

2. The environment minister must be of the opinion that the project will benefit communities in Ontario, but wildlife communities are not specifically taken into consideration, even if they are at risk.

3. The minister considers whether a “trusted proponent” has a plan for engaging and working with Indigenous communities, but the criteria do not require that the “trusted proponent” uphold Canada’s commitment to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and, in particular, the duty to obtain free, prior and informed consent from Indigenous Peoples regarding initiation of projects.

The people of Ontario of the present and those who will live here in the future deserve better.