Dear Doug Ford and the…

Dear Doug Ford and the Ontario Government,

I am dismayed and alarmed by the proposal via Bill 5 to scrap the Endangered Species Act, implement 'special economic zones' and permit habitat destruction and harassment for species at risk.

I urge your government to cancel Bill 5 and commit instead to strengthening the Endangered Species Act, particularly the implementation of recovery actions. The vast majority of the 230 + species at risk are listed due to habitat loss. Reducing protections for these most vulnerable species as proposed will guarantee that Ontario is a poorer place to live for nature and people.

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

The most problematic elements of Bill 5 are:
- Politicizing the listing process by allowing politicians to deny species at risk listings
- Permitting the destruction of habitat through on-line registration of activities by proponents
- Restricting the definition of 'habitat' and removing protections related to species 'harassment', and
- The creation of regulation-free 'special economic zones' where protections are waived for vulnerable species

The current ESA is not perfect but the changes proposed through Bill 5 are an abdication of any protections for Ontario's natural heritage. I believe it is the responsibility of government to support natural heritage. Please do not move forward with this Bill.