Re: Proposed Overhaul of…

Re: Proposed Overhaul of Ontario Wetland Evaluation System, (OWES), ERO # 019-6160
There is currently a good Ontario Wetland Evaluation System (OWES) in use in the province for Provincially Significant Wetlands (PSWs). The Ontario Government is now proposing policy changes to ensure that very few wetlands would qualify as provincially significant in the future. This would have a devastating impact on Ontario’s natural heritage which currently has wetlands offering all sorts of important buffers against climate change, flooding, and pollution of streams, and offers many environmental and economical benefits. Wetlands are extremely complex natural features. The government’s proposed policy changes are further examples of short-sightedness and especially lack of interest in the future health and biodiversity of the land for future generations of humans and other species.

As a biologist and former co-owner of a 42-hectare conservation property in southwestern Ontario, I have witnessed first-hand how valuable wetlands are in improving biodiversity of flora and fauna, providing habitat for species including species at risk, transforming the landscape from former farmland to an area that now has a much richer natural heritage than before, and which is counteracting some of the affects of climate change. My husband and I have recently donated this property to a Land Trust to protect it in perpetuity. Valuable natural heritage needs all the help it can get to protect it against harmful exploitation by developers. The proposals in Ontario Bill 23 that, if passed, will adversely affect the natural environment, will represent an unconscionable move by the Ontario Government, and a huge blot on the Ontario Government’s record.
Recommendation 1: Remove the proposed changes to the OWES that will see fewer, rather than more, wetlands qualify as PSWs.
Recommendation 2: Retain existing OWES policies to protect as many wetlands as possible, to act as buffers against environmental impacts related to climate change, and protect species which depend on wetlands and contribute to increased biodiversity.
Thank you for the opportunity to comment.