Doug Ford calls his next big bill the Get It Done Act. Here’s what’s in it

February 20, 2024 Canuck

Premier Doug Ford’s government is poised to bring in a major new piece of legislation on Tuesday, designed to speed up construction of new highways in Ontario by shortening their environmental assessments.

The bill will be called the Get It Done Act, directly echoing the slogan that Ford’s Progressive Conservatives campaigned on during the 2022 election.

Based on what the government revealed in three successive announcements over the past week, the bill will be a grab bag of legislation, including measures completely unrelated to Ontario’s environmental laws, such as freezing the fee for renewing a driving licence.

The bill’s heftiest provisions will reduce the timeline for environmental assessments on major infrastructure projects such as new highways and hydro transmission lines, and allow the province to expropriate land before those assessments are complete.

“The main intention is to demonstrate our focus on the core mandate we were elected on,” a senior government official told CBC Toronto, speaking on condition they not be named to provide insight into internal government strategy.

The official said the bill will be “focused on keeping costs down and streamlining complex approval processes as we look to build big projects.”

The Ontario government's proposed route for Highway 413 would run through parts of the Greenbelt between the existing 400 and 401 highways in the northern and western parts of the Greater Toronto Area. — The Ford government’s new Get It Done Act would speed up the environmental assessments for new highways in Ontario, such as Highway 413. This is its proposed route across the northwestern edge of the Greater Toronto Area. (Hailley Furkalo/CBC)

The changes will add highways to the list of projects that Ontario categorizes as “low risk” and therefore eligible for rapid environmental approvals. The government says this could cut up to four years off the completion timelines for such projects.

Highway 413, Bradford Bypass key objectives of bill

Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria made it clear that a key objective in the bill is paving the way for two new highways in the Greater Toronto Area.

“We’re doing everything in our power to accelerate the construction of Highway 413 and the Bradford Bypass,” Sarkaria told a news conference in Brampton announcing the environmental assessment changes in the Get It Done Act. The news conference was held Friday afternoon, just before the long weekend began.

Other tidbits that Ford and his ministers have said will be in the bill:

provisions to require a referendum on any future provincial carbon pricing program
legislation banning new tolls on provincial highways
clauses to automatically renew vehicle registrations for owners with no outstanding fines

CBC News asked Environment Minister Andrea Khanjin why the government is mixing these items into a bill that would significantly change Ontario’s environmental assessment laws.

“This is the government that really wants to get things done,” Khanjin replied. “I think everything in the bill complements a growing community and the growing needs of Ontarians.”

Marit Stiles holds her hand to her forehead as she sits at a desk in the Legislature. — Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles says it’s concerning that the government is ‘tinkering around’ with the process for approving major infrastructure projects. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press)

Khanjin said that Ontario’s processes for environmental approvals have historically been “slow and complex” with “too much red tape.”

The bill would also allow provincial and municipal governments to expropriate land for major projects before environmental assessments are complete.

NDP, Greens express concern

“I’m deeply worried about this bill,” said Green Party leader Mike Schreiner in an interview with CBC News.

Schreiner criticizes the emphasis on speeding up the construction of Highway 413, which would run in a 60-kilometre arc across the northwestern edge of the GTA, between Vaughan and Milton.

“The billions of dollars they would spend on that would be better spent in our healthcare system, building affordable housing, addressing the crisis in our education system,” said Schreiner. The government has yet to say how much the highway will cost.

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NDP leader Marit Stiles said it’s concerning that the government would be “tinkering around” with the process for approving major projects.

“This government, they can’t be trusted with this kind of thing,” Stiles said in an interview at Queen’s Park. “Where the government has gone wrong over and over again is not listening to people.”

Conservative strategists recently said Ford’s government needs to make good on the “Get It Done” promises of the last election campaign to best position him for re-election in 2026.

The government is currently touting major infrastructure projects at taxpayers’ expense with a multi-million dollar ad campaign targeted at Ontario audiences.

Before Ford publicly announced any of his plans for the Get It Done Act, some of the details were revealed by The Narwhal, an online media outlet that covers environmental issues.

The bill is scheduled to be introduced at Queen’s Park early Tuesday afternoon, the first day the Legislature sits after its two-month winter break.

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