The ESA is not meant to be…

The ESA is not meant to be an economically easy thing to do. The ESA's purpose is to protect species at risk and so it shouldn't be an easy thing to gain access to destroy potential habitat for species at risk. The people of Ontario value the biodiversity and abundance of different species in our province, but over development in Southern Ontario and significant logging and mining projects in Northern Ontario are destroying our pristine natural regions.

Biodiversity and having a well rounded natural ecosystems is vital for natural processes in nutrient cycling, water purification, and improving air quality. excessive development causes many issues with pollution and ecosystem degradation. This can be seen throughout the world in regions that have been overly developed and now choke on smog and pollution. Ontario and Canada is a key immigration destination for many people and part of this is because we have clean air and water (mostly). The ESA is part of the protection that keeps our land clean and desirable, but if we over develop and make it easier for big industry to destroy the landscape, there will be nothing worth staying for.

The ESA is already a well rounded document. The greatest flaw and the only thing that really needs addressing is the implementation of the Act. It needs to be better funded so that people can use the Act the way it was meant to be used. The issues being presented in terms of difficulty in applying the Act and lack of clarity come primarily from poor implementation and use of the Act. If the ESA was to be better funded and if it could be implemented properly, this would fix the issues presented in this revisionary process. It would be cheaper and a better use of time to fund the Act properly than it would be to pay people to rewrite the document. It will also be cheaper in the long run to maintain our natural environments than it will be to develop the land and pay for the consequences down the road. This process needs foresight and people with strong decision making to protect our land for now and future generations. This is more than a four year political maneuver. This is our future and the future of our environment.