Dear Minister McCarthy and…

Dear Minister McCarthy and Premier Ford,

I strongly urge you to cancel Bill 5 and the proposed changes to the Endangered Species Act and the new Special Economic Zones Act. Ontario’s biodiversity is in crisis, and this legislation takes us several steps back in the protection of species at risk and the preservation of nature. As a biologist who studies endangered species in Ontario and whose work has been funded by the Species at Risk Stewardship Program, I am appalled at this move away from evidence-based decision-making by the province. My research group and I stand against this proposal because:
- The redefinition of habitat is too narrowly focused on single features. Functional habitat is not simply a loose collection of dwelling places, and this definition ignores that habitat requirements can change throughout an animal’s life cycle.
- Developers should not be blindly trusted to begin projects before permits are approved. This leaves a window for irreversible land use decisions --- when a species or sensitive habitat is lost, it is gone forever.
- The decision to remove species from the at-risk list must be made on the basis of scientific evidence and not politicized.
- Allowing companies to operate with zero oversight in “Special Economic Zones” is a betrayal of the government’s responsibility to use the best available science to protect Canada’s shared natural heritage.
Rather than allowing projects to move ahead faster, this new act will bring the province into conflict with Indigenous peoples and with Federal legislation, which will erase any gains in speed and efficiency. This proposal should not go ahead.