May 11, 2025 Proposed…

May 11, 2025
Proposed Interim changes to the Endangered Species Act:

I am an Environmental Horticulturist and a board member of a local environmental organization.
We are currently advocating, along with numerous other environmental/wildlife/nature organizations across Canada, against the proposed Bill 5. The proposed changes to the ESA will speed up the destruction of critical habitat for endangered species and species at risk. It removes basic environmental rights, including rights to be informed and to participate in public consultation, and fails to respect Indigenous people’s rights. We all know the important role natural habitats play in conservation of important species, including pollinators. Natural habitats also mitigate climate warming; they are effective carbon sinks. In Southwestern Ontario, Eco-Region 7E occupies less than .25% of Canada’s landmass, yet it provides over 40% of Canada’s plant species. There are about 2,200 species of herbaceous plants (620 at risk). There are over 350 bees in the Mixed Wood Plains and over 30% are unique to Canada; 26-30% are specialists. Since 1970, 2.9 billion birds have been lost in North American, largely to habitat loss and unconnected, fragmented greenspace. (www.birds.cornell.edu/home/bring-birds-back/)

The Province of Ontario’s own website, describes Ecoregion 7E as a “Significant wildlife habitat” > > https://www.ontario.ca/page/significant-wildlife-habitat-ecoregional-cr…

Our Ontario landscape is losing the ability to support bird populations. Changes to the ESA will:

• Threaten species survival and recovery by repealing the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and replacing it with the Species Conservation Act that relies on voluntary initiatives and discretionary species protection, eliminating requirements to create recovery strategies for at-risk species, making it nearly impossible to track and mitigate threats to their survival .

• Erode government accountability, and conservation rights and our rights as citizens to a healthy eco-system. The UN Human Rights Council passed a resolution, in 2022, declaring everyone has the right to a "clean, healthy and sustainable environment." Furthermore, the Paris Climate Change agreement is recognized as a human rights treaty.

• Limit habit protection to the root zones of plants and the dens of wildlife which essentially means there is no protection.

Mr. Ford received a mandate from the citizens of Ontario to fight Trump’s tariffs, he did not receive a mandate to destroy our natural habitat. That is clear in the strong opposition to the attempt to develop the Ontario Greenbelt. The people have spoken – protect our greenspace: natural habitats, wildlife and important keystone species, species at risk and endangered species. At this time of crisis, we should be strengthening our laws to protect nature, not weakening them.