A national human rights advocacy group is taking up the fight against provincial legislation that will allow the development of a dormant landfill near Dresden.
Amnesty International Canada is calling on the Ontario government to change course on its proposed Bill 5, saying it will threaten Indigenous rights and erode environmental protections.
The Ford government announced the legislation last month, which proposes creating “special economic zones” where laws protecting endangered species, clean water, and consultation with Indigenous Nations could be suspended to fast-track development.
The legislation specifically identified plans to re-establish and expand waste processing operations at 29831 Irish School Rd. just outside of Dresden. The bill would effectively remove the requirement of a comprehensive environmental assessment on the property to allow Mississauga-based company York1 Waste Solutions to move forward with the development of a landfill.
The bill has been met with opposition from local residents, Chatham-Kent Council, municipal administration, and Indigenous leaders from Walpole Island, as well as other First Nation communities.
“We echo the alarms raised by Indigenous leaders and environmental advocates who have called Bill 5 a brazen power grab,” said Ketty Nivyabandi, secretary general of Amnesty International Canada, in a news release. “We cannot build up Ontario by bulldozing down the rights of Indigenous Nations and the natural environment we all depend on and share.”
Amnesty International Canada is urging the province to immediately halt or withdraw Bill 5; recommit to upholding the rights of Indigenous peoples as affirmed in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act; and engage in transparent, inclusive consultations with Indigenous Nations and civil society before tabling new development legislation.
The Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which has been implemented into federal law, states that any new building or resource-extraction project must not move forward without the free, prior and informed consent of the Indigenous Nations whose territory is affected by the development.
Anti-landfill group Dresden C.A.R.E.D. and members of Walpole Island First Nation held a news conference in Toronto last week, demanding the Ford government scrap its proposed legislation and revoke the existing landfill status of the Irish School Road site.
In defence of Bill 5, the Ontario government has cited the need to provide additional waste capacity in Ontario due to the threat of US tariffs impacting the province’s waste sector.
