To the Premier and…

To the Premier and Legislators,

I agree that Ontario’s economic development should be sustainable, but evidence demonstrates environmental protection supports economic development in the long run (Peng et al., 2020). Since sustainable economic development is a core reason for Bill 5, its reduction of protections is self-sabotaging.

Protection of endangered species is necessary to protect the land in which we see all kinds of value. Reframing the definition of “habitat” is one example of sabotaging the act. Effective habitat conservation must account for an animal’s complex behaviour over the life course (Caughley, 1994; Jones, 2001; Robinson et al., 2021). For example, it has been explicitly recommended that the piping plover’s nest-site selection not define its habitat (Robinson et al., 2021). The reframing of the definition of an animal’s habitat to its nesting/den site is thus ill-advised.

Additionally, the registration process incites warranted concern about accountability of developers regarding environmental protection requirements, where the proposal states “most proponents will be able to begin an activity immediately after registering.” Further, “activities that are harmful to the species cannot proceed unless the person carrying out the activity has registered the activity” is ludicrous; allowing harmful activity because an activity is registered through a “fast and easy” process is irresponsible. Environmental conservation is less costly than restoration, and thus the register first approach is uneconomical.

Finally, the government having the discretion to remove protected species from the list is inappropriate. The Protected Species list must paint an accurate picture of needs for efforts to be effective.

I stand with the numerous organizations and constituents who oppose Bill 5 and its proposed changes the ESA. Please note this comment is not inclusive of all problematic pieces of the proposal.

Sincerely,

A concerned citizen

References

Caughley, G. (1994). Directions in conservation biology. Journal of Animal Ecology. 63: 215 – 244.

Jones, J. (2001). Habitat selection studies in avian ecology: A critical review. The Auk, 118: 557 – 562.

Peng, B., Sheng, X., & Wei, G. (2020). Does environmental protection promote economic development? From the perspective of coupling coordination between environmental protection and economic development. Environmental Science and Pollution Research International, 27(31), 39135-39148. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-09871-1

Robinson, S., Bellman, H., Walker, K., Catlin, D., Karpanty, S., Ritter, S., & Fraser, J. (2021). Adult piping plover habitat selection varies by behavior. Ecosphere (Washington, D.C), 12(12). https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3870