I am extremely concerned…

I am extremely concerned with the proposed changes to Ontario’s Endangered Species Act. As our population expands, we continue to see increasing threats to biodiversity across much of Ontario. While it is a good idea to revisit protected species legislation to ensure that it is achieving its goals and to address concerns by those who are impacted by the legislation, now is not the time to weaken the protections for species at risk.

Strong protections for species do not need to be a barrier to development. That said, poorly planned development that prioritizes developer profits over the social, economic, and ecological wellbeing of our province absolutely SHOULD encounter barriers. The proposed changes to the Endangered Species Act would remove any meaningful guardrails on the development process. Our vulnerable species and future generations of Ontarians will pay the price; our natural heritage will become even more impoverished than it already is in this time of planetary ecological crisis.

I have several specific concerns to register:

(1) The changed definition of habitat willfully ignores biological science. Addressing the habitat needs of wildlife IS complicated, and requires adequate resources to evaluate risks, consider whether a specific development project can be compatible with species health, and plan mitigation measures. The new definition of habitat is exceedingly narrow and is a recipe for species extirpation and extinction.

(3) The “registration first” approach seems to be a way of virtually eliminating oversight of development applications in relation to species protection. What is the point of species protections if a developer can effectively provide their own green light to intervene in habitats? What chance will the public have to raise concerns about threats to species from specific development projects if project work can begin before any review by the ministry?

(2) The elimination of species conservation charges and the SCAA is a mistake. The fact that the SCAA has not yet spent any funds on recovery programs is concerning and this program perhaps needs to be revamped. But what is a species protection act without a funding stream or a mechanism to promote species recovery?

Ontario’s protected species legislation was the product of wide stakeholder consultation and it should not be dramatically changed without similar democratic process. I see tremendous irony in the fact that our current government was re-elected on a platform of responding to the threats from Donald Trump’s presidency, when the first important legislative actions taken by this government seem to be right out of Donald Trump’s playbook: radical deregulation of environmental protections without any due process. I urge our elected representatives to reconsider this course of action and abandon the currently proposed changes to the Endangered Species Act.