Public sentiment is divided on the Ford government’s controversial new mining law, according to fresh polling, which indicates people are in favour of speeding up projects but not at the expense of First Nation rights or labour laws.

New polling from Liason Strategies for the National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada gauged the mood of Ontarians as the government passed Bill 5 into law.

The legislation makes a number of changes, among them is the power for the government to create so-called special economic zones, where municipal, environmental or labour laws could be bypassed.

The government has indicated the Ring of Fire will be one such area, potentially along with Highway 401 and Ontario’s fleet of nuclear power stations.

The law’s passage at Queen’s Park last week sparked a storm of protests and backlash from First Nations leaders, who fear it will infringe on their rights and labour unions, who worry about workers’ rights.

First Nations groups, in particular, have promised a summer of disruption in response to the legislation — potentially blocking railways, highways and mines in the north.

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Liaison’s polling shows public opinion on the legislation itself is evenly split. About half of those polled (49 per cent) said they were following the legislation somewhat or very closely as it passed through the legislature.

Opinion of its value was also split. Forty-four per cent of those polled said they were in favour of it, while 41 per cent said they were opposed. Fifteen per cent of people said they were unsure.

“Given the poll’s margin of error, this is a pretty close result,” David Valentin, principal at Liason Strategies, said in an interview on Focus Ontario.

“It’s not probably where the premier wants to see it, which is somewhere closer to 60 or 65 per cent, but it’s also not where the opposition would like to see it, with overwhelming opposition. So, we’ve got a sort of mixed result.”

The poll also asked people to rank various issues against the importance of fast-tracking key construction projects.

Sixty-three per cent of respondents said fast-tracking was more important than municipal bylaws, and 58 per cent favoured speeding up projects over following environmental regulations.

On the other hand, 64 per cent of people said respecting Indigenous rights was more important than speeding up projects, and 56 per cent of those polled said it was more important to follow labour laws than to speed up projects.

The polling points to public opinion sitting behind two groups who have been most vocal in their opposition to Bill 5.

“It shows you that when it comes to Indigenous leaders and labour leaders, they’ve gotten their message out, their message has resonated, and Ontarians agree with them: Yeah, you can speed up the process, but you’re not going to suspend labour laws,” Valentin said.

Last week, Bill 5 received Royal Assent and became law, with Ontario Premier Doug Ford saying he wants to designate the Ring of Fire as a special economic zone “as quickly as possible.” At the same time, the government is promising to consult with First Nations leaders before any major changes are made using the new powers.

Valentin said the lack of examples for what a special economic zone will be was potentially making it harder for people to form a strong opinion in favour or against the legislation.

“What does it actually mean? Which regulations, which laws are going to be suspended? Which groups are ultimately going to be impacted?” he said.

“They’ve written the law so they can do a lot of things — OK, what are the specifics of that going to be? I think that might be why people perhaps have a hard time understanding what the ultimate effects of the bill are.”

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