Thank you for the…

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the ESA review discussion paper.

As the owner/steward of a small private wetland in southwestern Ontario, I cannot stress enough the urgent need to maintain the ESA’s stringent protections for Ontario’s endangered wildlife. We are losing numbers of animals/reptiles/amphibians/birds/insects at an alarming rate in this province. Anyone on the front line of conservation and protection can bear witness to the loss and decline of species due to habitat fragmentation through development and human encroachment. As subdivisions push at municipal borders, centuries-old wildlife crossings and migration paths are intersected or destroyed.

My woods are increasingly silent and empty.

Therefore, any amendments to the ESA must support its original and founding purpose of protecting and recovering at-risk species.

I do not see how your proposals can accomplish that goal, frankly. Making Ontario “open for business” should not be done by closing the door on threatened species. We can find intelligent solutions to growth and development without further endangering habitats that support key species in the critical and interdependent web of life, from predators to pollinators.

It takes political will, however, and I urge this government to now be intelligent, wise and constructive. Ontario’s ESA was hailed as an achievement around the world. This is a precious legacy you should not be violating. I ask you not to proceed with proposals that, for the most part, would make it easier for industry and developers to destroy the habitats of our most vulnerable plants and animals.

To that end, I urge the following:

1) Repeal the 2013 exemptions for the forestry, hydro, mining and development industries;
2) Amend section 57 (1)1 of the ESA so that exemptions will only be allowed if they do not jeopardize the survival and recovery of endangered and threatened species;
3) Maintain COSSARO’s current science-based listing process;
4) Maintain mandatory habitat protection with no ministerial discretion; and
5) Maintain the requirement for proponents of harmful activities to provide an on-the-ground overall benefit to species impacted with no backdoor option to simply pay into a fund to compensate for harm.

In short, science, not politics, should dictate species recovery.

Furthermore, if business is indeed the key driver for this government, then allow me to remind the decision makers that a tremendous asset to the Ontario economy is, in fact, nature tourism. From birders to paddlers, visitors from all over the world come to see and enjoy our province’s wild spaces. Allowing the wanton destruction of habitat will also eventually destroy what tourists pay to experience.

Finally, I am sure that every member of the government and every politician would like to leave behind, for their children and grandchildren, not only a prosperous province but one that is environmentally healthy and able to continue to support human life through intact ecosystems that provide oxygen and clean water and are teeming with biodiversity.

Please, do the right thing for the future and uphold Ontario’s Endangered Species Act.