Re: Bill 5 – A Dangerous…

Re: Bill 5 – A Dangerous Attack on Species Protections, Indigenous Rights, and Democratic Accountability

I am writing to express my deep opposition to Bill 5: the so-called “Protect Ontario by Unleashing Our Economy Act.” This legislation was introduced with little transparency, on the eve of a long weekend, and hides behind a name that belies its true effect: a systematic gutting of Ontario’s Endangered Species Act and the democratic, scientific, and Indigenous oversight that upholds it.

What Bill 5 proposes is nothing short of an environmental and democratic rollback of historic proportions. It would:

Repeal the Endangered Species Act, replacing it with a hollowed-out “Species Conservation Act” that protects no meaningful habitat and sets no meaningful recovery goals;

Replace permitting processes with a dangerous free-for-all, where developers are allowed to destroy critical wildlife habitat immediately after filling out a simple online form;

Give Cabinet unchecked power to decide which species get protection, what counts as “habitat,” and where the law does or does not apply;

Strip Indigenous peoples and the public of any meaningful role in decision-making that affects our shared land and water;

And through the Special Economic Zones Act, grant Cabinet near-dictatorial powers to exempt entire areas or industries from democratic oversight altogether.

This is not “streamlining.” It is a targeted assault on biodiversity, on Indigenous rights, and on the rule of law in Ontario. It opens the door for environmental deregulation cloaked in economic rhetoric, while empowering cronyism and silencing public dissent.

We should not be creating law-free zones where extractive industries are fast-tracked without review. We should not be scapegoating vulnerable species or ecosystems to distract from economic mismanagement. And we certainly should not be modelling our environmental policy on the worst excesses of authoritarian deregulation.

Ontario’s Endangered Species Act has served as a model of science-based, rights-respecting conservation law for nearly two decades. It does not need to be repealed—it needs to be upheld and enforced. Bill 5, by contrast, is a gift to short-term profiteers and a slap in the face to future generations who will inherit the consequences.

I urge you, in the strongest possible terms, to vote against Bill 5, to demand that it be withdrawn, and to call for full public consultation grounded in science, rights, and ecological responsibility.

Sincerely,

Sara Laursen, MSc. Biology
Carleton University, Ottawa, ON.