To the Government of Ontario…

To the Government of Ontario,

I am writing to express my concerns and opposition to Bill 5, which would decrease protection of Species-at-Risk and their habitats. I am a biologist and environmental educator and have much experience in this area.

Outside of protected spaces, the Endangered Species Act is the only protection for species-at-risk and habitats-at-risk in Ontario. Development is something that continues to increase in Ontario, largely at the expense of natural areas and species-at-risk. Already, we see that the Endangered Species Act is NOT sufficient for protecting species. In the last 10 years, the Midland Painted Turtle and the Common Snapping Turtle have been deemed at risk or special concern, making an entire species group at risk. If the legislation was sufficient, these declines would not be occurring. Decreasing the little protection that is already in place for Species-at-Risk would be harmful for many species and ecosystems, and would lead to further declines, very possibly extinction of species, and the continual degradation and dysfunction of our ecosystems.

I understand that the Government of Ontario has not properly consulted with Indigenous groups on this matter, whom will be disproportionately affected by this bill. The economy in Ontario is important, but developing and destroying Indigenous people's native lands and territories is irrevocable. This goes directly against Bill C-15 and the general desire of Canada (and Ontario?) to work towards reconciliation.

Given the lack of consultation with Indigenous peoples, I also question consultation with scientists. I have not seen any mention of this, and demand that environmental and climate change scientists be consulted before making this decision. I know that the Ford Government does not want to listen to scientists, and has been muzzling their own scientists. We need to let Ontario make decisions for themselves with all the information that they can access.

For both Endangered Species and Indigenous lands, once you destroy and harm the land, it will not regenerate to the same ecological function for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. Forests and wetlands (largely the ecosystems represented in northern Ontario) are powerhouses against climate change. Forests store amazing amounts of CO2, and wetlands continuously create healthy waters. These are only two positive impacts that these ecosystems have on climate change. Although Ford is proposing to fund other areas of environmental protection, the cost of destroying these ecosystems and lands will be much, much greater, as seen time and time again across the world. This is not a new trend. It has been seen and proven many times, and is wholly unnecessary.

I will reiterate that I am in opposition of this Bill. Ontario's economy is growing fast enough as it is, and we do not need to accelerate this process and further create imbalance and destruction. Without proper consultation of Indigenous groups and scientists, many laws are broken. If there are laws that need to be broken for something to happen, it's time to stop and really look at what you are doing.