I am writing today out of…

I am writing today out of concerns regarding the proposed Bill 5. Removing protections for species at risk, and removing the rights of aboriginal peoples to determine how their land and resources are used are two aspects of the Bill that are alarming to me.

The very reason that the provincial government took the positive step to pass the Endangered Species Act in 2007 was to protect species at risk! It was an dis still necessary so that our human activities, such as building and development DO NOT further destroy habitat and endanger animals and plants. Undoing that Act will undo the the whole point of it in the first place. While constructing new places for people to live is obviously important, it shouldn't be at the risk of destroying homes for species that can't raise their voices or write letters of protest.

For 400 years Indigenous people have had so much taken away without consultation or appropriate compensation. To now take away the law requiring archeological digs that identify First Nations' cultural heritage sites, in order to speed up construction of homes for non-indigenous, people is unacceptable. As is taking away the voice of municipal governments in decisions about how land is taken and used by developers.

The Ontario Provincial government and the Minister of Energy and Mines need to re