I am strongly against these…

I am strongly against these proposed changes and the replacement of the species at risk act with much weaker legislation, allowing developers and industries to become even richer by removing due process and protection of wildlife and the environment. Reviewing and mitigating risks of every development projects is not a waste of time, it is a much needed process to find the right balance between protecting wildlife species and their habitat while allowing development projects to occur in the most sustainable way. Steamrolling over what little remaining wild undeveloped areas is not good government and is very short sighted thinking that does not protect Ontarians for the future. These proposed changes have nothing to do with protecting species at risk or Ontario and everything to do with increasing development of green space and making developers richer while ignoring the impacts on the environment and wildlife. It’s not cutting through red tape, it’s removing essential laws and protections for our most vulnerable species. These laws are instrumental in SAR recovery and persistence and removing any review process for projects means that developers can start destroying habitat and potentially killing SAR without any knowledge or requirements to minimize impacts to wildlife or the environment.

The proposed changes of reducing habitat and species protection is not scientifically supported but political and all about profits and increasing development without regard for wildlife or the environment. Removing habitat protections from species full home ranges will cause detrimental impacts to the species populations. Protecting only their dwelling and saying that is adequate is unacceptable and equivalent to saying humans only need their bed and not anything else in their house/yard to survive. Wildlife needs their full home ranges for food/water/reproduction and destroying any if it will have negative impacts and decreased survival. Also much of species habitats are already small and highly fragmented, especially in southern Ontario, further putting pressure on these already vulnerable species. Species at risk are already extremely sensitive to negative impacts and therefore every protection should be afforded to them and increased and not removed just so industries can save money and time while ignoring science and their impacts on the environment. Everything is connected in ecosystems and once a species is removed it causes a domino effect on everything else, including humans. In addition removing Harassment of species is also a large issue as stress can have negative impacts such as lower survival and reproduction. So to you it probably seems irrelevant but to the wildlife avoiding added stress is essential for their survival. Plus the fact the politicians can remove species from the list based on their own political and financial interests is ridiculous and dangerous. And removing the recovery stipulations and monetary contributions for species protections will have lasting detrimental impacts for SAR. Without research and plans for species recovery Ontario will lose many of the species that makes the province great.

Ford is using the tariff war with the USA as a cover to fast track his anti- environmental agenda. A tariff war is not a justification for removing strong legislation that protects wildlife for future generations. Also the fact that this proposal is posted for review for only a month (the minimum time required) again shows the corruption in trying to rush this bill through without proper consideration or allowance for proper public and expert scientific input. Please vote no on this bill or the damage will be irreversible. It is Ontario’s responsibility to protect wildlife for future generations. We need to be increasing habitats for all species instead of destroying them further and protecting what little wildlife we have left.