I am writing to express my…

I am writing to express my strong opposition to the proposed changes to the Endangered Species Act, as outlined in ERO #025-0416.

While Ontario is facing a real housing crisis, weakening or eliminating environmental protections is not a solution. It is a distraction from the structural issues that actually constrain housing supply and affordability.

Ontario already leads the country in the number of species at risk, and we have one of the worst records in Canada for species recovery. Very few, if any, of the species listed under Ontario’s Endangered Species Act have recovered sufficiently to be removed from the list. This reflects not a lack of science or understanding, but a lack of political will to implement the actions we know are necessary—chief among them, habitat protection.

Removing these protections will further undermine recovery efforts, putting more species on the path to extinction.

When habitat protections are weakened, the consequences ripple far beyond individual species. Consider the Redside Dace, a small fish few Ontarians have heard of. Its decline is a signal of deteriorating water quality caused by sedimentation and pollution—issues that affect entire aquatic ecosystems and the people who depend on them. Likewise, the loss of forests inhabited by species like the little brown bat also means the loss of ecosystem services such as shade, air filtration, and carbon storage—services that protect public health and help communities adapt to climate change.

This is not simply a matter of wildlife conservation; it is a matter of human well-being and environmental justice. Weakening the Endangered Species Act threatens our collective right to a healthy environment.

I urge the Government of Ontario to reject the current proposal. If the permitting process needs streamlining, that can and should be addressed without dismantling the foundational protections that allow species and ecosystems to persist. No one is asking for homes to be built in wetlands or for local forests to be razed. There are smarter, more balanced ways to address housing needs without sacrificing our province’s natural heritage.

We have the scientific knowledge. What we need now is the leadership and vision to act on it.