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In these designated areas, democratic norms will be suspended until further notice.

Doug Ford鈥檚 Tories will do away with environmental assessments and other meddlesome manifestations of red tape. They will impose streamlined regulations of their own design, details still to be determined by the Progressive Conservative cabinet meeting in supreme secrecy.

These are not abstractions affecting far-flung locales in the distant future. Ford鈥檚 targets may range far and wide, but they are also too close for comfort.

Torontonians take note: Ford鈥檚 first designation could be his controversial Highway 401 tunnel.

First Nations take note: The premier seeks unlimited powers to ram through major mining proposals that impinge on Indigenous territories.

The legislation confers authority on the minister of economic development to select 鈥渢rusted proponents鈥� for 鈥渄esignated projects,鈥� unencumbered by any provincial law or municipal bylaw. Instead of a get out of jail for free card, think of it as a laissez-passer for never ever going to jail in the first place.

The legislation鈥檚 full, fulsome title gives the game away: 鈥淧rotect Ontario by Unleashing Our Economy Act.鈥�

Back in power after campaigning on a slogan to 鈥淧rotect Ontario鈥� from Donald Trump鈥檚 depredations, Ford is going back on his word 鈥� again. Call it bait and switch and suppress.

Under the guise of protecting the province鈥檚 economy from the president, the premier will dismantle local democracy. As Ford tells it, existential times call for extraordinary urgency.

鈥淧resident Trump wants to destroy our economy, take jobs away from Ontarians and Canadians, and we have to get up and fight like we鈥檝e never fought before,鈥� Ford argues.

鈥淲e can鈥檛 be caught up in red tape and regulations and dilly-dallying around.鈥�

There鈥檚 an unintentional tell: Ford equates the exigency of democracy with the dilly-dally of delay.

Consider the contours of Ford鈥檚 unprecedented plan: Ontario鈥檚 PC government will lay the groundwork to burrow tunnels and blast mines while blowing up the regulatory framework and democratic underpinnings of our legal system.

The inspiration for this innovation?

The People鈥檚 Republic of China pioneered similar economic zones that also do away with red tape and lay down the red carpet for capitalist interlopers. It has muddied the waters for past decades, literally and figuratively, and I have seen Ontario鈥檚 future.

The Shenzhen Special Economic Zone was the first and most famous. I lived on the doorstep of Shenzhen, across the border in Hong Kong, watched it in action, breathed in the pollution.

The Shenzhen experiment was dreamed up decades ago by Deng Xiaoping, China鈥檚 paramount leader back then, just as Ford is today Ontario鈥檚 unchallenged leader. Shenzhen would break through the bureaucratic inertia of communist central planning.

In Shenzhen, the local economy thrived while the environment died. Whither Ontario?

Think of this experiment as Ford鈥檚 Greenbelt boondoggle 2.0. Where once he cited a housing crisis as justification for the unjustifiable, today he points to America鈥檚 tariff war as a pretext to transgress regulations and unleash unrestricted approvals.

To dig in against Trump, he鈥檒l dig his tunnel under the 401 and burrow into Northern Ontario鈥檚 Ring of Fire free from any guardrails, rules and red tape. In short, anything and everything:

鈥淎nything that we see (as) economic opportunity: building a tunnel, for example, along the 401, or any major infrastructure project that creates opportunities and economic development,鈥� Ford explained.

鈥淟et鈥檚 speed things up. Let鈥檚 make sure that pipeline gets done.鈥�

The trouble with such frenzied crusades to cut red tape is that you cut companies loose from oversight. Ultimately, untethered companies are unaccountable companies.

Nothing against mining magnates, but when you are in the business of stripping topsoil and generating tailings in remote areas where the geography and the ecology cry out for good governance, granting carte blanche in the far north is going too far, too fast.

That鈥檚 precisely what the premier did on the Greenbelt after the 2022 election 鈥� first promising to protect it, only to plunder it at the first opportunity. Now, history is repeating itself and the starting point is destined to be Ford鈥檚 fantasy tunnel, stretching 60 kilometres under the 401.

Full speed ahead? Not so fast.

Environmental Defence calls the bill 鈥渁 direct attack on species at risk,鈥� because the province could strip away protections in the Endangered Species Act while reining in the work of as many as 19 ministries that now oversee projects.

Sol Mamakwa, the Indigenous MPP who represents Kiiwetinoong riding (where the Ring of Fire is located) said Ford鈥檚 PC government is counting on the public鈥檚 trust after counting people out.

鈥淭his bill, to me, is like Ontario First, First Nation last.鈥�

No one would argue against a reduction in duplication and delay. But given the track record of his PC government, this premier does not deserve a blank cheque nor does he merit blind faith.