These comments are submitted…

These comments are submitted on behalf of Birds Canada.

Birds Canada is a national charitable organization dedicated to bird conservation with its head office in Port Rowan, Ontario. Every day, our thousands of caring donors, passionate staff, and more than 74,000 volunteers are taking action to help conserve wild birds and their habitats. We know from our work across the province that Ontarians value birds and natural areas and see them as an important part of their life and their identity as Ontarians.

Based on the approach outlined on the environmental registry, Birds Canada views the proposed changes to the Endangered Species Act and its ultimate replacement by the Species Conservation Act as a significant step backwards for bird conservation in the province.

Our understanding is that the proposed changes will end provincial legal habitat protection for endangered and threatened birds. The proposed new Species Conservation Act will only provide protection for the “dwelling place” or nest and its immediate surrounding, effectively the residence as defined under the federal Species at Risk Act. There will no longer be any legal requirement to protect the forest, wetland, grassland or other habitat in Ontario that at-risk birds require to survive. This will be true for both provincial crown land and private land. Federal laws do not protect habitat for migratory birds on private or provincial crown land, as the government’s rationale for the change incorrectly suggests. Habitat conservation would only be achieved through voluntary measures or federal government intervention.

The proposed changes place far too great an emphasis on economic growth as the objective of the Act rather than the conservation of species and their habitats. Rather than propose a solution that resolves the stated concerns of delays and lack of clarity for development while still conserving birds and their habitats, the proposed changes will effectively eliminate habitat protection and suggests the provincial government will no longer be engaged in bird conservation.

Additionally, while we agree that duplication of permitting should be avoided, we are very concerned that the intent of no longer applying provincial ESA protections to birds and their nests if they are listed under the federal Species at Risk Act, is for Ontario to completely step back from compliance and enforcement of the legal protections for the individuals and their nests and no longer support the recovery of Ontario’s birds.

Recommendations:

• The existing habitat definition and protections of the Endangered Species Act should be retained. They provide a clear approach to conserving Ontario’s most at-risk birds, and any issues of delays or lack of clarity can be dealt with through improvements in process.

• At a bare minimum, legal protection for threatened and endangered birds should continue to exist for habitat on provincial crown land, just as the federal Species at Risk Act habitat protections apply to federal crown land.

• Incentives for habitat protection on private land must include funding for conservation easements and purchase of land by land trusts, as well as the payment of incentives to private landowners to maintain habitat and conserve species. The annual budget of the new Species Conservation Program should be of a sufficient amount to make this meaningful. The proposed $20 million annual fund for species conservation is not sufficient.

• Ontario’s threatened and endangered birds need plans for their survival and recovery. The proposed changes eliminate the requirement to develop recovery plans and propose no meaningful alternative. Without recovery plans, the new Species Conservation Program will not be able to set priorities, and businesses and the public will not have guidance on the most important places to protect and actions to take. The proposal states that the government would “focus the development of conservation guidance when and where it is needed and makes sense to do so.”

• Indigenous leadership, voices, knowledge, and ongoing work on the land are critical for wild birds to thrive in sustainable ecosystems. The proposed legislation must respect Indigenous rights and the duty to consult.