I am writing to express my…

I am writing to express my deep opposition to Bill 5. This move is not only short-sighted, but dangerous — both to Ontario’s biodiversity and to the long-term health, justice, and environmental stability of our province.

Regulations like the Endangered Species Act exist for a reason. They are not obstacles to economic development — they are guardrails to ensure that economic decisions are made responsibly, with consideration for the long-term wellbeing of ecosystems, people, and future generations. As the saying goes, “regulations are put in place because someone, somewhere, got hurt.” Repealing them now means we’ve forgotten those lessons — and we are gambling with irreversible loss.

Bill 5 would strip away science-based protections and hand over near-total discretion to Cabinet to determine which species deserve protection. This turns species protection into a political calculation, rather than a scientific and moral imperative. Even worse, by redefining “habitat” so narrowly — to a den or nest rather than the forests, wetlands, and ecosystems species actually rely on — the bill sets wildlife up for failure.

Permitting processes that currently require expert review and harm mitigation would be replaced with a click-and-submit registration form. This is not environmental regulation — it’s deregulation by disguise. It opens the door for unchecked habitat destruction and species loss, with no accountability, no transparency, and no meaningful public oversight.

This is more than a threat to biodiversity — it is a threat to environmental and social justice, to Indigenous rights, and to the very foundation of sound policy-making. Indigenous peoples have constitutionally protected rights that cannot be brushed aside by online forms and backdoor Cabinet decisions. The proposed Special Economic Zones are especially troubling — granting Cabinet the power to create “law-free zones” where both municipal and provincial laws can be suspended is an affront to democracy.

We are living through a biodiversity crisis. Species are vanishing — forever. And every species lost brings us closer to ecosystem collapse. Healthy ecosystems are what purify our water, regulate our climate, grow our food, and sustain our communities. To dismantle those protections in the name of economic growth is not just bad policy — it’s reckless and self-defeating.

Good decision-making means taking all pieces into account — economic, ecological, social, and cultural. It means protecting what we can never replace. Bill 5 is a failure on all these fronts. I urge the Ontario government to withdraw this bill and commit instead to strengthening, not weakening, the systems that protect life in this province.