As a physician, father,…

As a physician, father, hunter, angler, and citizen of this beautiful province, I find it deeply worrisome to see the government is even /considering/ weakening the protection of species at risk, for any reason, least of all for economic development.
Every species matters. The life on this planet is in a balance--some species make food, some species are food. Some species we eat, some species we admire. The loss of any species puts this delicate balance (the entire ecosystem) in peril for all remaining species.
The income generated by hunters, anglers, tourists (both local and from abroad) is massive. Just looking at hunting and angling alone, a 2018 study estimated that these activities generated $4.7 billion in GDP and supported 36,900 jobs. Again, species at risk, while not those we hunt or fish, are part of the ecosystem that supports our target species.
As a physician, I know from ample evidence as well as decades of clinical experience that time in nature yields real health benefits--from lowered blood pressure alone, the reduction in cardiac, renal, cerebral disease is a huge cost savings (never mind the lives lost) for our province.
I strongly urge the government to reconsider this dangerous proposal, and think about the long term economic, health, and happiness benefits to protecting endangered species, let alone the moral question of whether we should have the right to extirpate or make extinct species.
We must strengthen, not weaken, existing protections for species at risk. We must Conserve our heritage, not throw it away for the promise of short-term economic gains.