Dear Ontario Government, I…

Dear Ontario Government, I am writing to you to ask you to reconsider the proposed interim changes to the Endangered Species Act, 2007 and a proposal for the Species Conservation Act, 2025.. I care deeply about the future of at-risk birds and want to see the forests, wetlands, and grasslands they depend on protected for future generations. This bill will put everything else first, before the safety and well being of these at risk birds, which are already going through so much, due to climate change, wildfires and human activities. Loss of habitat will drive them directly into those dangerous situations with very dire outcomes.

1) Placing a much greater emphasis on economic growth in deciding when and where to protect and conserve species at risk. This means new development will be even less likely to avoid impacts to species and natural areas.
2) No longer applying provincial protection to birds and their nests if they are listed under the federal Species at Risk Act means the province could step back from compliance, enforcement, and recovery.
3) No longer having regulatory tools to protect the habitat where threatened and endangered birds nest and feed will lead to habitat protection to be voluntary on both private and provincial land.
4) Not developing recovery strategies and actions for any endangered species, including birds and instead “focusing the development of conservation guidance when and where it is needed and where makes sense to do so”. This will result, the survival and recovery of endangered birds such as Piping Plover, Prothonotary Warbler and Red-headed Woodpecker to rely on federal plans as the province appears to be stepping back from efforts to support their conservation. This is a major setback for these vulnerable species.

Once again I ask that you reconsider. We owe it to ourselves and to future generations to do all we can to protect and preserve these species.