Blog

The Ontario government is seeking to make sweeping, regressive amendments to provincial laws under Bill 5, Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act, 2025. This bill will have detrimental impacts on Indigenous rights, environmental health, wildlife protection, and our rights to participate in government decision-making. On top of that, Bill 5 makes it nearly impossible to bring a legal challenge against the government.

In December 2024, the Office of the Auditor General of Ontario (Auditor General) – an independent body responsible for overseeing the Ontario government’s spending of public funds and compliance with laws and policies – released its Performance Audit on the Operation of the Environmental Bill of Rights, 1993 (EBR) and found that the Province does not always meet its obligations.

In November, Legal Advocates for Nature’s Defence (LAND) joined by our grassroots clients, the Friends of the Attawapiskat River (the Friends), attended the Western Mining Action Network’s biennial conference, Mining Justice in the Climate Crisis in Tiohtià:ke (Montreal).

“Guardians of nature include first and foremost Indigenous peoples and local communities,” remarked the United Nations at the opening address of the world’s largest ever global biodiversity conference, COP16, that got underway this week in Cali, Columbia.