The Endangered Species Act…

The Endangered Species Act is a critical piece of legislation which allows the Ministry of the Environment to act to protect Ontario's ecosystem. This is important both because Ontarians value our natural environment and also being ecosystem collapse would have an apocalyptic impact on many industries. Considering how much of the Ontario economy currently relies on the natural environment, ensuring that we have the means and resources to maintain the ecosystem is critical both for our wellbeing and our economy. Invariably, not all economies can flourish in a sustainable way, but this does not mean we must avoid stronger environmental legislation but rather ensuring that people who work in extractive and polluting industries incompatible with a sustainable future receive the support and opportunities to thrive in a new industry.

The Endangered Species Act is way overdue for a review. We have a massive backlog of endangered species with no plan of protecting them and there are too few resources to follow through on those plans. Our province needs a stronger Act protecting endangered species and the financial support to ensure the power of the Act is not solely on paper. This is not just good policy, it is a critical change that must happen now, before any more species are lost.