I strongly oppose the…

I strongly oppose the proposed Bill 5 Protect Ontario by Unleashing Our Economy Act, 2025. If approved, the legislation reduces protection for species at risk, will increase habitat loss for and hamper their recovery of biodiversity. Loss of these species and habitats which make up functioning ecosystems has direct consequences for human health.
The proposed interim changes to the Endangered Species Act, 2007 and a proposal to repeal the Ontario Endangered Species Act (ESA) and replace it with the Species Conservation Act would eliminate Ontario’s commitment to safe-guarding native species. The Species Conservation Act proposed reduces and limit habitat protection. Under the proposed guidelines, habitat for species at risk animals would be reframed as “a dwelling place, such as a den, nest, or similar place, occupied or habitually occupied by one or more members of a species for the purposes of breeding, rearing, staging, wintering, or hibernating.” Are we to understand that the government believes species do not require, food, water, nor access to unrelated mates? Without protection of foraging/hunting, cover and movement corridor habitat, wildlife are at risk of extinction.
The proposed plan does away with requirements to prepare “recovery strategies and management plans, government response statements, and review of progress from legislation.” While there can be some overlap between federal and provincial recovery documents. Ontario is home to the majority of Canada’s human population, the threats in this province do not mirror those faced in other parts of Canada.
The proposed changes move from a permitting system to a self-registration system. Such that without any need for mitigation developers may “get projects started as soon as they have completed their online registration”. This system will undoubtedly increase destruction of habitat for species at risk and disregard project management that balances anthropogenic and environmental concerns.
Further, the proposed Bill gives the government discretion to remove species from the Species at Risk in Ontario List. Species assessment and listing must be carried out using the best available science, and be prepared by taxa specialists. Political control of listing species goes against the core principles of the original legislation, and has no scientific merit.
The proposed bill prioritizes speed over scrutiny in the name of “efficiency.” Rather than decreasing already weak protections, the governments efforts should be focused on increasing the strength of legislation for species at risk. Returning to the original Endangered Species Act protections from 2007 is the direction I would like to see our government take.
I urge the government of Ontario to reject this proposed bill.