I am concerned about…

I am concerned about revoking the Endangered Species Act because the Auditor General observed in 2020 that permitting applications to harm endangered species or their habitat are always approved (see Page 6). You may be increasing the powers of enforcement but if every permit and registration will result in immunity from the requirement to "do no harm" then there is no protection to speak of by increasing enforcement. Also on Page 6 of the Auditor General's Report from 2020 it was noted that MECP permits for conservation works were delayed while development permits were fast tracked and I noted that there are several areas of Bill 5 where references to restoration work was removed. This leaves me as a concerned citizen and nature lover the impression that this government is going to fast-track the destruction of critical habitat and may result in more species becoming threatened instead of meaningfully investing in the types of programs that prevent their decline in the first place. To circle back to the issue of enforcement, the Auditor General's report from 2020 (Value-for-Money Audit: Protecting and Recovering Species at Risk) notes on page 7 the following:
" The Environment Ministry has laid only two charges for harming species at risk since 2019. An enforcement plan is not finalized and environmental officers have not been appointed to enforce the Act."
" The Environment Ministry does not conduct inspections to ensure compliance with the requirements of agreements, permits and conditional exemptions."

Has an enforcement plan been finalized? Was this Value-for-Money Audit: Protecting and Recovering Species at Risk considered when Bill 5 was drafted? From my point of view as a concerned citizen in Whitby, one of the municipalities where urban sprawl has been the most senseless, as I am still priced out of becoming a homeowner in my hometown, this seems as if the Bill was designed to eliminate all requirements to safeguard nature. Increased enforcement in this new environment, where the developers can sign into a registry to state they will do harm and that is all they need to do to obtain permission, is dystopian.