I was born in Toronto, am a…

I was born in Toronto, am a resident of London, ON, and am incredibly proud of this BEAUTIFUL and RARE ecoregion I live in, and the beauty of Southwest Ontario that is often undervalued compared to other provinces! I work as a horticulturist and outdoor guide. I volunteer with multiple environmental groups here in London. I have recently become a birder, and found out why people come from all over the world to Ontario: the vital migration pathway we hold for millions of birds necessary to ecosystems across North, Central, and South America! This land is ours to steward. We MUST listen to our environment and endangers species experts, protect what we have left and continue to work within the standards we have created for development. Ontario Place is no different.

I speak for myself, my family, and my community when I saw we take responsibility to steward this land, which is why we strongly oppose the Protect Ontario by Unleashing Our Economy Act, 2025 through Bill 5.

I call on the government to utilize the organizations and experts that we have in this province to build industry instead of removing the regulations and laws we have all agreed upon to protect the ecosystems, species, human health, and provide due and proper indigenous consultation.

Through my own reading of the bill, and reference environmental experts including those at Ontario Nature, Sierra Club, World Wildlife Federation Canada, and a webinar with Environmental Defense, it's been made clear the laws and regulations we have in place to protect the land, animals, watersheds, and our own health need to remain undisputed and reinforced everywhere in our province. We must keep these laws as they have been established. There is no research or facts provided in the proposal that show that the Environmental Bill of Rights, 1993 is not necessary to follow at Ontario Place.

It comes as no surprise that the government would like to continue development without dealing with the public backlash and criticism, but there are no scientific or environmental grounds for us to not follow Part II of the Environmental Bill of Rights, 1993 for minimum public participation and accountability.

Again, as is a pattern of most of Bill 5, the fact that our provincial legislation around development is "complicated, takes too long to complete, and causes unnecessary delays and costs" is not reason enough to remove safeguards and public consultation.