This proposed change to the…

This proposed change to the act is poorly thought out and dangerously interpreted. You are putting species risk and protections into the hands of private contractors without due course or repercussions to violating the protections in place of our most vulnerable species in Ontario. For what, to save the already wealthy a few dollars and months of time? None of the statements or proposed changes outline the differences between the current act and what you are planning to change, obfuscating the fact that this drastically rolls back the only protections in place for species at risk. You have included no science or data to back up your changes, making statements that SOUND well grounded, but are in reality intended only to save money for developers. The current species at risk act is actually very soft in comparison to other countries, other provinces, and to simply make the statement "these processes take too long and cost money" does not address the fact that cleaning up these mistakes after the fact will cost so much more then following our laws to begin with. So my comment is this: tear up this proposed change and start again. Consult scientists, indigenous communities and actually do the work, because this is pathetic.