This will be a huge loss to…

This will be a huge loss to species at risk in Ontario, and is a mistake and a step far away from protecting species at risk.

Ontario is an incredibly diverse province and should be celebrated as such. Instead, you are stripping the already weak ESA to clearly approve projects no matter what damage they inflict upon habitats for species at risk. Some very worrying parts of the proposal are:
- Especially for birds: registration (or permits) will no longer be required for impacts to migratory birds and aquatic species protected under the federal Species at Risk Act. Protection of SAR will need to look to federal plans and the province appears to be stepping back from efforts to support their conservation. The federal species act is a backup and is intended to act when the province will not, and is not enacted often.
- ultimately shift nearly all species-related authorizations to a registration-first approach. It is clear that just registering to destroy SAR habitat will not do anything to protect them.
- establish a new Species Conservation Program to support voluntary initiatives like habitat restoration that protect and conserve species. Most, if not all, companies will not do environmental restoration if it is not required (and the government of Ontario knows that).
- There can't be enforcement if there are no laws stopping harm to SAR in the first place.

These proposed changes are a joke and it's pretty transparent that the government of Ontario does not care about biodiversity or SAR. I strongly oppose these changes.