I am appalled by the…

I am appalled by the proposed amendments to the Endangered Species Act (2007) and its proposed replacement, the Species Conservation Act (2025).

There has been a consistent policy of this government to undermine environmental protections in the name of expediency which began with amendments to the Conservation Authorities Act (December 2020 as part of its omnibus budget Bill 229), followed by an attempt to transfer lands out of Greenbelt protection. Following this thwarted effort, and a grand gesture of fained appeasement, the government has continued to diligently chip away at environmental protections. The list of actions and bills passed affecting environmental protection in this province are too numerous to list here. I will refer you to a list put out by Environmental Defense:
( https://environmentaldefence.ca/attacks-on-the-environment/).

It would be in this larger context that I would ask the committee to consider Bill 5 and the specifics of the Amendments which this ERO is addressed to. Indeed, just as it is the failure to consider the cumulative effects of legislative changes to acts, regulations, or policies, and just as it is a failure of our Environmental Assessment Act to allow for consideration of cumulative effects, so too is it the failure in the specifics of the proposed changes to SARA and it's proposed replacement, the Species Conservation Act, to give due consideration of what is required for the survival of species.

Ontario is a vast land, however most of us live in Southern Ontario; more specifically, in the "Golden Horseshoe" region. Land here is precious- it is just a commodity for some, a way of life for others, a place to call home. It is also a place to seek spiritual health, and for people, as myself, living inside a large city, there is a great need for such places. This land gives us food, clean water, and clean air to breathe. Its also a place we share with our fellow creatures. We can build highways, tunnels, mine and quarry into the earth, spread housing development far and wide, but we can’t replace land. We can't replace what we build on, pave over, drain, or dump on with such seeming reckless disregard for the environment.

The list of concerns regarding the proposed amendments is extensive. I am sure you will receive many. I will refer to the committee to the newsletter of the Association of Anglers and Hunters: (https://www.ofah.org/zonej/province-replacing-endangered-species-act/)

I can speak for many in my area- Toronto Danforth and Beaches-East York- as I have talked to hundreds of my local residents over the past two years. Hundreds of people who have signed their names to petitions, emailed our local MPs, and MPPs, come out to rallies. Mention the Greenbelt and people identify two things immediately - their genuine concern for the Greenbelt as a place that needs to be protected, and secondly, that processes by which it is threatened are somehow devious and undemocratic.

Our land is not yours to tell us what it is to be used for without due or proper processes. Ministerial discretionary powers are not due process. Yes, in a first past the post electoral system, you were elected, and in four years another government will be elected. Politics is fleeting, generations to come will have to live with the consequences of it, and the land we depend on for centuries to come. Let’s not weigh species and habitat with social or economic expediency or leave it up to discretionary powers. We find ourselves in a crisis of housing and economic over dependence not because of environmental protections but because of decades of policy neglect and indifference to warning signs.