Thanks for giving me the…

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to comment. Like most Ontarians I have been focused on staying safe during the pandemic and am disturbed by what I see are so-called efficiencies for business being brought in during a time when the bigger ongoing crisis of climate change and destruction to our environment have slipped into the background.

Whether under the changes to the Conservation Authorities Act (which should have been subject to the EBR) and now additional changes to the Endangered Species Act which gives permission to destroy habitat outright as long as the proponents are willing to pay, these moves are deeply disturbing in my view. We as a Province are headed in the wrong direction.

Ontario is known for beautiful natural spaces and as a citizen who lives in Toronto we need nature closer to home. This has been well-noted during Covid-19. Since development is more likely to be taking place in our large urban areas, the move to pay to slay (as I see it) will remove even more precious habitat from our local areas.

This “conservation” fund is predicated on the destruction of species at risk habitat when in fact we should be carefully preserving, protecting and guarding what little remains. In fact, will there be an exact reproduction of a wetland that has been drained and all it supports reconstructed by humans to replace the ones destroyed? There are many great restoration projects out there, but they take years to replicate what has been taken away and there is no guarantee that endangered species will return. Will the fund take into account the loss of carbon capture and storage that our green spaces, wetlands and forests provide?

I see that any implementation of the Species at Risk “Conservation” Fund as a further attack on our local natural areas, which will only serve to increase the degradation of our environment and our quality of life.