The proposed change suggests…

The proposed change suggests that protected species that gets in the way of development projects will be removed from the list of protected species. We owe more to the environment we live in and have stewardship over.

If we eliminate environmental protections from land that endangered species rely on, this will result in the loss of habitat for protected species populations. Reduction in habitat will put at greater risk already vulnerable, threatened, and endangered species populations, resulting in a loss of biodiversity and ecological health. Biodiversity loss can have significant direct health impacts if ecosystem services no longer meet societal needs. Changes in ecosystems can affect livelihoods, income, local migration, and may even cause or increase political conflict.

This is a complete over-reach of government to suggest that this would be at government discretion. The loss of a species is irreversible. Not only will this generation lose it, but also every future generation of Ontario. We owe it to our children and grandchildren to protect our species at risk.

This proposed change will have dire consequences. I cannot conceive of any good that would ever come from such a regulatory policy: "the government would also have discretion to remove protected species from the list."

I implore the government to undo the regulatory amendments that weaken the Act and restore an effective, science-based regulatory regime for the protection of species at risk.