I am commenting on the…

I am commenting on the proposed amendments to the Rebuilding Ontario Place Act, 2023.

I am opposed to Schedule 8 of the Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act, 2025, exempting every project tied to the Ontario Place redevelopment (and any enterprise or activity that furthers the Ontario Place Redevelopment Project that is not at the Ontario Place site) from Part II of the Environmental Bill of Rights, 1993.

Part II of the Environmental Bill of Rights specifically outlines “minimum levels of public participation that must be met before the Government of Ontario makes decisions on certain kinds of environmentally significant proposals for policies, Acts, regulations and instruments.” Schedule 8 will completely eliminate public participation, as well as eliminating informing the public about environmentally significant activities specifically with regard to Ontario Place.

I am also opposed to the proposed changes to the endangered species act and species conservation act. Restricting a species habitat to the immediate surroundings of it's dwelling is a definition that is not in line with scientific or conservation definitions, and completely neglects that much more is required for survival than a dwelling - animals must be able to search for food, mates, and enact their natural behaviours. A habitat is a place that allows for all of this. Encroaching on natural habitat is what results in animals entering human spaces - coyotes, foxes, deer, and sometimes bears. This is not beneficial to the animal or to humans.

This proposed amendment is to benefit private sector initiatives, and it is not in the public interest nor the interest of our environment. I am calling on the Government of Ontario to remove Schedule 8 of the new Protect Ontario by Unleashing Our Economy Act, 2025.