I repeat and endorse the…

I repeat and endorse the comments from the Simcoe County Greenbelt Coalition.

I OPPOSE your proposals that:

- Would allow industry, municipalities, and developers to bypass rules and regulations within the act for a price;

- Would allow the minister to avoid consulting with experts for species at risk, even if the suspension of the regulations would “likely jeopardize the survival of the species in Ontario”;

- Would allow the minister to avoid consulting or even notifying the public if they decide to suspend regulations within the act;

- Would suspend the protections for locally threatened species as long as the species is “healthy” outside of Ontario. This would lead to extirpation and further jeopardize local ecosystems;

- New additions to the species-at-risk list would take longer to get protection (from three months to a proposed 12 months). At a minister’s request the committee that adds new species may be asked to re-evaluate the listing, which would only lengthen the time that the species and their habitat would be vulnerable to development and other damaging activities;

- Would no longer issue stop work order permits on damaging activities for newly listed species or their habitat for up to one year of listing. This means that damaging activities, such as mining, excavation, etc., would be allowed to continue, unfettered, as the new species’ habitat and species protections are reviewed by committee.

Ontario’s Endangered Species Act was already insufficient. This proposal effectively removes the small safety net species at risk had remaining.