Comments – Developing…

Comments – Developing Guidance on Section 16 Activities Under the Species Conservation Act, 2025

ERO 025-0908

I am offering my comments on the proposed guidance for activities under the Species Conservation Act. I have major concerns with the dramatically weakened regulatory regime under the Act and am opposed to the elimination of protection for Ontario’s vulnerable species under the Endangered Species Act. I am also dismayed to see that the posting is devoid of any detail on proposed guidance. As such, this posting is premature and does not constitute true consultation in its current form. Once actual guidance is drafted, that guidance must then be posted on the environmental registry for public comment.

The posting requests open ended input regarding the aspects of the “previous policies and technical direction” from the ESA that should be retained, updated or removed, which components would be of greatest “interest or value” and which species groups would most benefit from detailed habitat guidance. It is curious how public input is expected on “previous” policies and direction given that there are no links in the posting to any previous guidance, other than the ESA itself.

It is unclear how the existing science-based guidance and direction under the ESA can possibly be applied under the SCA in a way that benefits species conservation, given the profound weaknesses of the new Act. The wording of the posting seems to imply that the previous guidance is a menu from which we can pick and choose what would be of “greatest interest” and ignore the rest! All vulnerable species, by their very nature, require protection to ensure their very survival. And likewise, all would benefit from detailed habitat guidance to assist in assessing potential impacts of an activity as a basis for regulation.

It is essential that the science-based approach of defining habitat under the ESA be reinstated prior to developing guidance for assessing activity impacts to listed species or their habitat. To determine the possible impacts of an activity, the risk to survival of the species or their habitat must be determined, as provided for under the ESA. That determination is impossible unless impacts to all components of a species’ habitat are assessed (i.e. for shelter, food, hibernation, migration, reproduction). Anything less will simply expedite extinction, which is not an acceptable trade off for expedited short term economic growth.