This legislation seems ripe…

This legislation seems ripe for destruction of species at risk habitat and populations. Removing any definition for harassing a species can easily cause destruction to these species. Piping plovers are one such example that harassment can be extremely detrimental, causing young to not forage for food and eventually die from starvation. Harassment is very clearly a threat to these species and can directly impact these species.

The new definition of habitat is also alarming, as it would remove protections for areas that are not used for nest or dens. Many animals use areas away from their “home” to forage for food, so removing these protections just completely removes a large part of these species habitat. These removals allow proponents to disregard a large portion of critical habitat for many species and only focus on where they are actually found. This will lead to destruction of habitat for these species and eventually forcing them to relocate or die due to habitat loss, which is already a major issue that many of these at risk species face.

This new legislation allowing for removal of species from the list of at risk species by government also feels like an easily manipulated measure. Will species be removed due to politics so someone will get elected?

Permits are a strong measure to protect endangered species, and removing them feels like a way to let proponents skirt around environmental regulations.

Recovery plans also are needed to protect these species and to conserve them, and removing them will again backstep from where we are, moving us back to a time where the environment was disregarded for humans.

Removing legislation for federally listed species also is a complete disregard for those species. Proponents should not be prioritized over these species, we have been the primary drivers behind many of the decline of these species, so why should we prioritize humanity over these species. Will federally listed species found on provincial land be protected as well now? Will migratory birds be disregarded because they are a federally protected species but not one that the province cares about?

Overall this seems like a way to allow industry to destroy critical habitat and a complete disregard for these species at risk.