We are in a global…

We are in a global biodiversity crisis. In Ontario alone, more than 230 plants and animals are at risk. The healthy forests, waters and wetlands species at risk rely on sustain all Ontarians.

I urge the Ontario provincial government to:

– Cancel Bill 5 and plans to scrap the Endangered Species Act or implement “regulation-free zones” for resource extraction.

– Commit to strengthening the Endangered Species Act.

Rather than significantly weakening protections for species at risk, this government should be safeguarding biodiversity, respecting Indigenous rights and ensuring local communities benefit from the ecosystem services that nature freely provides.

Additionally, Bill 5 is being promoted as an update to help species and streamline conservation — but what it actually does is remove the very tools that make species protection effective and enforceable.

​- Repeals the Endangered Species Act, Ontario’s strongest biodiversity law

- Gives cabinet ministers the power to ignore scientific advice on which species deserve protection

- Eliminates mandatory recovery strategies for species at risk

- Narrows the definition of protected habitat, leaving out critical areas like feeding grounds and migration routes

Allows development to proceed through “pay-to-destroy” offsets with no requirement to restore or replace what’s lost

- Removes transparency and public input, reducing accountability for decisions that affect future generations

One of the most troubling parts of Bill 5 is its expansion of biodiversity offsetting — allowing developers to damage or destroy critical habitats if they pay into a fund after the fact.

This means:

​- Developers may proceed with harmful projects without restoring the habitat or protecting it elsewhere first.

- There’s no guarantee that the species affected will ever recover or benefit from the compensation.

- Sensitive ecosystems — once gone — can’t simply be replaced with money.

This shift from “protect first” to “pay later” removes key safeguards that the Endangered Species Act provided, and puts Ontario’s rarest plants and animals at greater risk.

You can’t rebuild a vernal pool or replant a 100-year-old oak overnight. Some habitats are irreplaceable — and that’s why they need real protection, not compensation