I am an Ontario citizen who…

I am an Ontario citizen who is concerned about Bill 5. While I am supportive of prioritizing development, it must be done wisely, rather than at the expense of our environment. The reason we choose to live in Canada is the abundance of beautiful natural areas and biodiversity. We all need to protect and defend the environments and species at risk; our leaders today should set the example for us and our future generations.
Numerous parts of the proposed changes to legislation further endanger our protected species, including: narrowing the definition of “habitat”, granting the government discretion to disregard a species on the list, dropping the requirements for recovery strategies, and switching to the registration-first approach for projects. Environmental assessments are essential for ensuring a development project will be both productive and safe before it begins, as opposed to discovering issues during and after the project, which can incur even higher costs to reconcile.
Please reconsider the long-term risks of the streamlined proposal and please help ensure that the proper protocols and measures are maintained to help us protect what we still have today!