As a citizen of Ontario my…

As a citizen of Ontario my entire life, the last thing I want to see is the natural beauty of this province and the native species that call this place home endangered by short-sighted legislation that would only benefit the fewest wealthy buddies of the "Mayor of the Province" to develop cheaply made, and yet still largely unaffordable housing.

Concerns of changes are as followed:

- Removes all habitat protection, instead protecting a species dwelling place (example: den or nest) or individual plant.

- Eliminates recovery strategies, government statement and accountability, along with disbanding the committee that provided outside advice and oversight.

- No permits, beneficial action, review or approval is needed to kill or harm a species or its habitat. Developers can proceed immediately by registering online.

- Political discretion can veto or remove species from the species at risk list, meaning species that pose a problem for development could simply be removed.

-Removes the word “harass” from the prohibitions, meaning anyone could harass a species at risk to keep it from nesting to prevent triggering habitat protection, provided they’re not directly harming the individual.

To reiterate, it is very clear that the purpose of these changes is to remove the checks and balances provided by an independent committee to protect the native species of animals to Ontario. The only "balance" provided herein is whether to "Drill, Baby, Drill!" or break ground on yet another atrociously banal and expansive condominium project. The only "swamp draining" going on here are of the wetlands that prevent the annual flooding of the aforementioned unaffordable homes.