NIAGARA ESCARPMENT BIOSPHERE NETWORK BLOG

NEBN Formal Opposition to Bill 5

20/05/2025

Niagara Escarpment Biosphere Network
nebnetwork.org

May 16, 2025

Re: NEBN Formal Opposition to Bill 5 – Environmental Registry of Ontario Posting# 025-0416

To Whom It May Concern,

On behalf of the Niagara Escarpment Biosphere Network (NEBN), and with full support from our Board of Directors, we write to formally express our deep and unequivocal opposition to the proposed Bill 5 – “Get It Done Act.” While the legislation is presented as a means to streamline development, its real consequence is the dismantling of collaborative environmental governance, the marginalization of Indigenous rights and responsibilities, and the weakening of protective mechanisms that underpin biosphere integrity.

While we acknowledge that the Niagara Escarpment Planning and Development Act (NEPDA) is not directly listed among the schedules of Bill 5, the broader legislative and procedural shifts proposed pose significant risks to the ecological governance principles, cultural protections, and collaborative planning frameworks that sustain this region.

The Niagara Escarpment is not just a natural feature or a planning unit. It is a 400-million-year-old teacher—an ancient and enduring record of life’s emergence, migration, and adaptation. It has sustained countless species, ecosystems, and human cultures, and it continues to sustain us today. To treat this landscape as an obstacle to be managed through accelerated approvals and centralized authority is to misunderstand its role in our collective future.

The Escarpment—known to many as G’Chi Bimadinaa, The Great Cliff that Runs Along—is a UNESCO-designated biosphere reserve, one of only four in Ontario and nineteen in Canada. It stretches across over 50 municipalities and is home to Indigenous Nations, counties, conservation authorities, land trusts, tourism enterprises, and community-based environmental organizations. It is a living example of how people and nature can coexist in reciprocity and responsibility.

As part of the UNESCO Biosphere community, NEBN holds an internationally recognized responsibility to uphold the interconnected values of ecological conservation, cultural respect, and sustainable development. These responsibilities are not symbolic. They are active, living commitments that demand humility, collaboration, and shared governance. Bill 5 contradicts each of these obligations. It undermines our ability to work with communities, scientists, municipalities, and most importantly, Indigenous Nations who have stewarded these lands since time immemorial.

To be clear, Indigenous Peoples are not stakeholders—they are rights-holders, with governance systems that reflect generations of knowledge, ceremony, and deep ecological relationships. Among the First Nations along the Escarpment, species like turtles, bears, and sturgeon are not simply endangered—they are kin, lawmakers, and truth-tellers. Their protection is not based on policy triggers, but on principles of balance, gratitude, duty, and responsibility. These teachings long predate Ontario’s environmental legislation, and in most cases, surpass it in both integrity and effectiveness.

To bypass Indigenous voices through legislative shortcuts is not only a breach of trust—it is a failure to understand that Indigenous knowledge is not a cultural add-on, but rather a foundational pillar of biosphere health and long-term sustainability. The removal of environmental safeguards and the narrowing of consultation pathways via the Environmental Registry of Ontario represents a rejection of shared responsibility at a time when it is most needed.

NEBN is currently developing its strategic plan rooted in the principles of co-stewardship, ecological literacy, and youth leadership. We envision a future where the Escarpment is protected not just by policy, but by a mosaic of relationships and responsibilities that reflect both Indigenous and scientific ways of knowing. Our opposition to Bill 5 is not simply a defense of existing protections—it is a defense of that future.

We call on the Government of Ontario to withdraw or fundamentally revise Bill 5 and to recommit to meaningful collaboration with Indigenous Nations, local communities, biosphere partners, and environmental experts. The Escarpment cannot afford further erosion—of its habitats, of its governance, or of the shared trust that protects it.

Sincerely,

Doran Ritchie
Manager, Niagara Escarpment Biosphere Network
info@nebnetwork.org

With the support of:

Charlene Winger-Jones, co-chair (Hereditary Council Member and Life-long Cultural Leader, Water Walker, Climate Reality Leader from Neyaashiinigmiing)

On behalf of the NEBN Board of Directors