I implore the Ministry to…

I implore the Ministry to restore ESA and committ to strengthening protections for Ontario's precious and vulnerable species. The weaker SCA is short sighted and lacks the necessary solutions for our biodiversity crisis. We should be using the robust, science based approach to defining habitat under the ESA prior to the passage of Bill 5. I call on the Ministry to reinstate the ESA and utilize the definitions for assessing the impact of activities to a protected species or species' habitat.

Given the limitations to the definition of habitat under the SCA, it is unclear how such guidance can be applied in a way that benefits species conservation. To determine the possible impact of an activity, it is necessary to determine the risk to survival of the species and habitat in question as it was included in guidance under the ESA. It is impossible to determine risk to survival of a species with any degree of certainty if all habitat required for a species survival is not being considered in the assessment, as proposed under the SCA.