I strongly oppose these…

I strongly oppose these changes to the Endangered Species At, 2007 and strongly oppose the content of the newly proposed Species Conservation Act. I oppose bill 5.

The proposed changes are ignore science and allows government to provide short cuts to developers, infrastructure, and spatial planning over known species at risk and their habitats.

It further ignores and provides a path for government officials to overrule scientific knowledge and expert consultation through the scientific Committee on the Status of Species at Risk in Ontario (COSSARO). Parliamentarians should not have the "discretion to remove protected species from the list" after scientists have substantiated and strong evidence-based argument for a given species to be protected.

Changing the definition of words like "species" and "habitat" by ignoring decades of science does not serve the wider protection of ecosystems, regardless of the importance of infrastructure development. Decades of science has demonstrated clearly that protecting species without their habitat is a failure every time. If we restrict the definition of habitat to that being proposed, we essentially eliminate species protections. The scientific committee knows this and can provide evidence of why the laws are as they currently are. We need more science supported, evidence-based decision making, not law that bypass our understanding of the world in pursuit of profits masked as "efficiency".

Special economic zones allow the government to override existing protections, regulations, and laws without public consolation. In this era, we need more discourse with the public not government activity hidden behind "expedited" systems.

This approach kills Canadian innovation by allowing outdated misconceptions about development. We need a greener economy which can build sustainable infrastructure which works with the ecosystem in which it exists. This bill kills emerging Canadian businesses and leadership in these areas, by just allowing failed approaches to persist.

I strongly oppose Bill 5.