I strongly oppose Bill 5 and…

I strongly oppose Bill 5 and its proposed changes to Ontario’s Endangered Species Act (ESA). Ontario’s ESA was once one of the strongest legislations for biodiversity protection globally. Since coming into power, Ontario’s Progressive Conservatives have repeatedly weakened the legislation through amendments overtime, removing protections, extending timelines, expanding the range considered beyond Ontario for species assessments, the list goes on. Both the interim changes to the Endangered Species Act and subsequent replacement with the Species Conservation Act contain by far the most detrimental changes to Ontario’s biodiversity ever proposed.

The proposed change to the definition of habitat will jeopardize the chance of survival and recovery of at-risk species in Ontario, updating from protecting the habitat(s) required by a species to complete life history processes to just the species residence (den, nest, etc.). Other habitats needed for feeding, migration, and other life processes will no longer be protected, making it extremely unlikely that conservation efforts will be effective, leading to species being extirpated from Ontario.

The update to allow Ontario to choose whether to add a species identified as at-risk by Committee on the Status of Species at Risk in Ontario to the list of protected species will lead to further delays in protection and open the process to be swayed by external groups, including developers. This mimics the federal Species at Risk Act process, which has been criticized heavily for delays and bias in listing. This change is not in the best interest of Ontarians, who value natural spaces, or the Ontario’s biodiversity.

Finally, allowing developers to self-regulate through registration-first approach will allow destructive projects to move forward without review or proper consultation with First Nations. This will lead to rapid loss and degradation of Ontario’s species and their habitats.

As stated in Ontario’s ESA preamble, Ontarians value biodiversity and provides value and contributions to our lives. The purpose of Ontario’s ESA is to protect at-risk species and their habitats, and promote their recovery. These proposed changes will completely undermine this purpose, leading to further losses of biodiversity in Ontario in the name of unsustainable development. We need to shift towards sustainability, allowing development to continue driving biodiversity loss and climate change is extremely shortsighted and undermines human rights.