I am deeply disturbed by the…

I am deeply disturbed by the changes proposed to the system of evaluating and regulating wetlands. These changes will leave these evaluations in the hands of municipalities and developers, taking the expertise of MNRF and conservation authorities out of the equation. The presence of endangered species will no longer contribute to the overall score of a wetland. The result will be that fewer wetlands are recognized as PSWs, and those that have been recognized in the past will be in danger of re-mapping. Developers will be able to "compensate" for their destruction of wetlands by flooding other areas - this is a false equivalency since these newly-created "wetlands" will not have the same carbon storage or biodiversity as the true wetlands that were destroyed.

The ostensible reason for all these changes is that Ontario needs more housing; however, the government has not any presented evidence that the root cause of housing problems is a shortage of land. Destroying our wetlands would not be a good solution in any case. Wetlands are havens of biodiversity. These sequester massive amounts of carbon. They act as natural sponges to mitigate against severe weather and flooding. Any measures that lessen our protection of wetlands will cost us dearly in the long run. We should be protecting wetlands, not paving them over.

One of the obvious solutions to the shortage of house is densification. We should be building upwards, not outwards. The proposed measures, apart from their immediate impact on wetlands, will certainly increase urban sprawl. Indeed, the title of Bill 23 should properly be "The More Sprawl Faster Act".

I do hope the government will re-consider Bill 23, either dropping it entirely, or re-working it to enhance the protection of wetlands and the Greenbelt, and to decrease sprawl.