https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/
Attorney General wants a shovel-ready province ‘without delay’ on big infrastructure projects
Last week’s Supreme Court of Canada’s ruling that the federal Impact Assessment Act is unconstitutional should clear a regulatory path toward expediting construction of big infrastructure projects, like the proposed Ring of Fire road network, said Ontario Attorney General Doug Downey in a news release, Oct.24.
In calling the federal act a “duplicative” process, Downey said the Ford government is “taking immediate legal action to bring certainty so that we can get shovels in the ground on infrastructure projects without delay.”
Downey was referring to last week’s majority ruling by the court that the parts of the federal assessment scheme were beyond the scope of federal decision-making power, specifically Ottawa’s regulations on “designated projects” that should be automatically subject for federal review.
The court’s decision clears up “unnecessary” regulatory confusion and brings “legal certainty,” Downey said, in advancing large infrastructure projects like Highway 413, Ontario Place and the First Nation-led process to connect the Ring of Fire to the provincial highway network by permanent road.
For the rest of this article: https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/regional-news/far-north-ring-of-fire/ontario-ready-to-legally-rumble-with-ottawa-over-the-ring-of-fire-7728698