Let It Burn: Ontario’s Wildfires, Bill 5, and the Logic of Capitalist Abandonment
by Sophie Jean
Smoke Over Northwestern Ontario: The Crisis at Hand
As wildfires tear through Northwestern Ontario, the provincial government is gutting environmental protections, slashing firefighting resources, and pushing Bill 5, which fast-tracks industrial expansion at the expense of Indigenous rights and ecological stability. Far from an isolated disaster, these fires expose a deeper systemic crisis where capitalist priorities of extraction, austerity, and colonial control lay bare the true and growing costs of capitalism.
Northwestern Ontario continues to suffer under a relentless wave of wildfires. Over 200 active fires have scorched Northwestern Ontario this season, with the total area burned exceeding 750,000 hectares. Among the largest blazes, Red Lake 12 alone has consumed nearly 196,000 hectares, while other major fires like Red Lake 62 and Kenora 20 have each burned tens of thousands of hectares. As of August 10, around 46 fires remain active, forcing repeated evacuations in remote communities such as Sandy Lake, Deer Lake, and Kasabonika Lake. Air quality warnings have led health units in Thunder Bay and Kenora to advise residents to stay indoors, while schools have moved to virtual learning to protect children from hazardous smoke.
As CBC News reports, more than 9,000 people from isolated, road-inaccessible First Nations have been evacuated, relying heavily on limited airlift services amid dangerous conditions. The Air Quality Index (AQI) in some communities has soared, classified as “hazardous.” Yet, Premier Doug Ford’s government refuses to attribute this crisis to anything beyond “extreme weather,” continuing to defend deep cuts to firefighting and prevention services. This is no mere natural disaster; it is a catastrophe amplified by a pattern of austerity, colonial neglect, and the relentless drive of capitalism. At the heart of this crisis lies Bill 5, a legislative assault on environmental and Indigenous protections that reveals the true priorities of Ontario’s ruling class.
Bill 5: The Legislative Arson of Ontario’s Environmental Protections
Passed in June 2025, Bill 5, the Protect Ontario by Unleashing Our Economy Act is a sweeping omnibus law designed to accelerate resource extraction by dismantling environmental safeguards and weakening municipal and Indigenous oversight. It establishes “Special Economic Zones” where environmental assessments and public consultations are suspended, fast-tracking projects like mining and industrial development without meaningful input from affected communities. The bill also narrows protections under the Endangered Species Act, threatening critical habitats such as those of the woodland caribou, already imperiled by decades of habitat loss and climate change.
The Chiefs of Ontario, representing 133 First Nations, have condemned Bill 5 for its blatant disregard of Indigenous treaty rights and environmental stewardship. In their official statement, they warn that Bill 5 “undermines the principles of free, prior, and informed consent” and “accelerates the destruction of our lands, waters, and sacred places.” At least nine First Nations have launched constitutional challenges, asserting that the Bill 5 violates Section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982, which affirms and protects Indigenous rights. CBC News details how Bill 5 allows the government to fast-track projects like the Ontario Place redevelopment and landfill expansions without adequate public notice or accountability, exemplifying the government’s broader agenda to prioritize corporate profits over community well-being and ecological sustainability.
However, it is also essential that this discussion goes beyond any singular government and gets to the heart of capitalism to understand why this occurs more broadly. We can see this happening globally, with flooding in Texas displacing thousands while wetlands are paved over for real estate profit, and catastrophic fires in Australia and Chile as governments gut environmental protections in favour of mining and agribusiness. This is not simply the failure of individual politicians or parties; it is the predictable result of a capitalist system that treats land, water, and air as commodities for exploitation rather than as the basis of collective life. During “normal” times, capitalist politicians can at least partially temper the immediate drive for quarterly profits with environmental regulations, ensuring that there are abundant natural resources and labour markets to be exploited in the long run. However, with an ailing economy compounded by the trade war with the U.S., the business community is clamouring for Canada’s economy to be made more “competitive,” i.e., for the slashing of “red tape” like environmental regulations and Indigenous rights to make Canada more attractive for investors.
Whether it’s Doug Ford’s government gutting environmental protections under Bill 5 or its federal equivalent, Bill C-5, our politicians are intent on shifting the burden of the economic crisis onto workers, Indigenous peoples, and the environment while funneling wealth upward. To address the climate crisis and environmental destruction meaningfully, we must understand that these are not isolated emergencies but interconnected expressions of capitalist abandonment. We need a revolutionary transformation rooted in Indigenous sovereignty, working-class power, and socialist planning to replace the system that created this catastrophe in the first place.
Austerity’s Flames: How Ford’s Cuts Weaken Fire Prevention
The wildfire emergency in Northern Ontario is closely linked to years of austerity under Premier Doug Ford’s government. Significant budget cuts to wildfire management and emergency services have reduced Ontario’s firefighting capacity at a time when wildfire risks are increasing due to climate change. For example, Ontario’s emergency forest firefighting budget was cut by nearly 67 percent in 2019, from $213 million down to about $70 million, and although some funding was partially restored later, the number of frontline firefighting crews dropped from nearly 200 to around 140 by 2023. These cuts have limited resources available to respond to increasingly severe wildfire seasons.
In addition, Bill 124 (officially titled the Protecting a Sustainable Public Sector for Future Generations Act) was passed in 2019. This law capped public sector wage increases at one percent annually for three years, affecting many frontline workers and contributing to challenges in recruiting and retaining skilled firefighters. Moreover, these financial pressures and labor restrictions have led to increased privatization and casualization of firefighting roles, including lower wages for pilots and contract crews. This has further strained Ontario’s wildfire response capabilities, with frontline workers reporting inadequate support and resources despite government promises. Most telling, Bill 124 was later deemed unconstitutional and repealed, however, its effects continue to have lasting impacts today.
The wildfire crisis in Northern Ontario cannot be separated from these government policies and years of austerity, restrictive labor laws, and underfunding have all contributed to weakening the province’s ability to effectively manage increasingly severe wildfires. Reports have highlighted critical shortages of water bombers and qualified pilots during the peak of the wildfire season, a situation largely caused by chronic underfunding and difficulties in recruiting and retaining specialized firefighting personnel. Firefighter unions have noted that several Ministry of Natural Resources aircraft, including water bombers, helicopters, and bush planes, have been grounded due to a lack of qualified pilots. The pilot workforce is reportedly understaffed by about 23 percent, which has significantly limited Ontario’s capacity to respond effectively to wildfires.
Indigenous Stewardship vs. Colonial Neglect
As Pikangikum First Nation Chief Cathy Favel stated in an interview, “We’ve been telling governments for years: give us the resources to manage the land the way we know. But they keep ignoring us.” Her words expose how austerity policies intensify Indigenous communities’ vulnerability, sidelining their expertise and traditional knowledge. Indigenous nations have practiced sophisticated land management for millennia, including cultural burning techniques that reduce wildfire risk and promote ecological health. Colonial governments banned these practices and centralized control in bureaucracies that have failed to protect forests or Indigenous communities effectively. The Chiefs of Ontario have repeatedly demanded that firefighting resources and authority be transferred to First Nations, emphasizing Indigenous stewardship as essential to climate resilience and justice. Yet, funding remains piecemeal. The Assembly of First Nations’ 2023 Climate Crisis Report reveals Indigenous-led fire management programs receive less than 10 percent of the funding allocated for wildfire response in Ontario. Repeated evacuations fracture community cohesion, strain healthcare resources, and jeopardize traditional food systems and traplines. Meanwhile, vast tracts of land burn while governments prioritize industrial projects and resource extraction over ecological balance.
Capitalist Greenwashing: Mark Carney’s Empty Promises
Today as Prime Minister, and in his former role as UN Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance, Mark Carney promotes “green prosperity” through market-based tools like carbon trading and green bonds. However, such financialized “solutions” fail to challenge the capitalist logic driving ecological collapse. While investors profit, working-class families in Northern Ontario endure worsening air quality and health crises. They cannot wait for abstract “resiliency” funds; they need immediate action to protect their homes and futures. The logic of green finance is clear: privatize gains, socialize losses. Only a systemic break with capitalism can deliver genuine climate justice.
The NDP and the Limits of Reform
Ontario’s New Democratic Party has called on the government to restore firefighting budgets, support unionized crews, and improve evacuation infrastructure for remote communities. While these reforms are necessary, framing the crisis as “mismanagement” obscures its root cause: the capitalist system itself, which prioritizes profits and austerity over people and planet. The NDP’s commitment to capitalism has led them to abandon their commitments to ecological protection and Indigenous rights as soon as they gain power, for example in BC where NDP Premier David Eby is cutting “red tape” to satisfy developers, and in Manitoba where NDP Premier Wab Kinew is fast-tracking resource extraction projects in the face of environmental concerns. After leaving politics, former BC NDP Premier John Horgan was offered a position on the board of a coal company as a reward for protecting their interests and providing left cover for a government fundamentally committed to extractive capital.
Conversely, local activists, unions, and solidarity groups in Northwestern Ontario have organized grassroots responses, distributing masks, building DIY air filtration units, and pushing municipalities to declare climate and air quality emergencies. These collective efforts show the power of working-class solidarity in the face of government neglect, but they’re still not enough to confront the crisis. The crisis needs to be tackled at its roots: a system predicated on endless profit-seeking regardless of its effects on the planet.
Capitalism’s Climate Chaos: Lessons from Texas and Beyond
The wildfires ravaging Ontario mirror climate disasters worldwide, including the catastrophic June 2025 floods in Texas. In both cases, capitalist governments slashed critical infrastructure spending while protecting corporate interests. In Texas, flood mitigation projects were cut, wetlands paved over, and Black and Latino communities left to face devastating impacts. The connection is undeniable: capitalist extraction, austerity, and colonial dispossession create conditions for disaster. Profits take precedence over lives, leaving frontline workers and Indigenous peoples to pay the ultimate price. The flames burning Ontario’s forests and the floods drowning Texas are symptoms of a deeper systemic crisis. Bill 5 is not a simple bureaucratic reform: it is a legislative tool enshrining capitalist abandonment, sacrificing land, people, and future generations for short-term gain.
What Is to Be Done?
Bill 5 makes our ruling class’s intentions clear, and demonstrates that the government will not protect working-class communities, Indigenous nations, or the environment from climate catastrophe; however we must not overlook that this issue crosses borders and is universal of capitalist exploitation. The government’s commitment to austerity, privatization, and unchecked resource extraction ensures that disasters like Northwestern Ontario’s wildfires will only worsen. At the end of the day, only a revolutionary break from capitalism can halt this destruction. The contradictions between social needs and capitalist profit demand a socialist transformation where workers, Indigenous peoples, and communities democratically control the economy and environment.
We must fight for:
The immediate repeal of Bill 5 and all laws weakening environmental protections and Indigenous sovereignty.
Full restoration and expansion of publicly funded firefighting and emergency services, prioritizing unionized workers and Indigenous fire stewardship programs.
Respect for Indigenous self-determination in land and resource management, including the revitalization of cultural burning and Indigenous land stewardship as essential wildfire prevention.
The nationalization of fossil fuel, mining, and industrial sectors under democratic workers’ control to end destructive extraction and enable a sustainable energy transition.
Massive investments in a just transition, creating millions of unionized, well-paid jobs in renewable energy, public transit, environmental restoration, and community infrastructure, planned and controlled by workers’ councils and governed on the basis of consent from Indigenous peoples.
The building of a broad socialist and anti-colonial movement linking Indigenous struggles with working-class resistance to austerity and ecological destruction, capable of challenging capitalism and extending well beyond Canada’s borders.
Capitalism’s logic is clear: profits first, people and planet last. The only way to extinguish the flames of climate chaos is through collective struggle rooted in working-class solidarity and Indigenous sovereignty that puts life before capital. The fires raging across Ontario are a warning. We cannot wait for a future dictated by capitalist greed and colonial violence. It is time to organize, mobilize, and fight for a new society where those who work the land, steward the land, and depend on the land determine its fate.
Reprinted from WhatIsToBeDone.ca, August 11, 2025.