Wetlands are an ecosystem…

Wetlands are an ecosystem that fully pays back in ecosystem services by flood control, filtering of pollutants and hosting high biodiversity. I strongly oppose the "Proposed Updates to the Ontario Wetland Evaluation System." There are many concerns that I have including:
a) Wetland units that are part of a Provincially Significant Wetland (PSW) complex can be re-
evaluated individually. Those units can be removed from the PSW. This leaves it up to
consultants, hired by developers, to recommend if wetlands should lose protected status. b) Wetland boundaries can be remapped without having to re-evaluate the entire wetland. c) Conservation Authorities (CA’s), the organization with the knowledge and hydrology expertise, will be prohibited from being contracted by municipalities to comment on Acts, including the Planning Act. d) the function of CA's was to protect watersheds - and protect people from extreme flooding events - yet in the proposed changes CA’s must tell the government which lands they own that would
be suitable for housing. e) No permits are needed if Planning Act authorization obtained, and new tools are proposed for the government to force CA’s to issue permits whether or not development meets environmental policies and environmental best practices.

The proposed updates completely remove those government bodies (OMNR included) with the skills and experience to evaluate lands and waters from the process, while handing rights to scientifically inexperienced municipal councils and to consultants hired by developers, whose decisions are often a foregone conclusion.

We should be focusing efforts on high density living, not sprawl that further endangers what natural habitats remain.