Legislation Introduced to End Free Ride for Fossil Gas and Other Updates

 

The B Local initiative for "Fair Compensation for Use of Municipal Land" continues to take steps forward on a number of fronts.

On Thursday June 5, 2025 Mike Schreiner, MPP Guelph and Leader of the Ontario Green Party, introduced a private members bill -- Bill 50, No Free Ride for Fossil Fuels Act -- that seeks to remove the ban on municipalities from seeking fair compensation for the use of public land for fossil fuel infrastructure. The goal of Bill 50 would force fossil fuel giants like Enbridge to pay their fair share and generate revenue for municipalities that could be spent on building much-needed housing and making our communities climate-ready. B Local Ontario is calling on Enbridge to voluntarily pay their fair share, like they already do in other provinces across Canada. The Ontario Legislature is set to return on October 20, so nothing will happen on this bill before then.

We continue to maintain a list of relevant documents for the Campaign. We have added a link to Ontario Energy Board website to view all submissions to the Board, including the City of Guelph.

The date for the OEB hearing has not been set.

Arni Mikelsons and Vanessa Pereirra presented an overview of the initiative to B Lab's Impact Collab: Government Affairs & Collective Action. The presentation starts at 34:38.

If you are a company that supports our campaign please sign our petition.