I think that a balance of a…

I think that a balance of a landscape approach and species specific approach would cover a broad range of protections. I find it strange that protection approaches for individual species can conflict with each other to a great degree, usually by restoring or improving habitat for one species, you improve habitat for many other species... Funding for scientific research to develop tools to support management for species at risk at a landscape scale is needed. I don't think that a longer timeline is needed before a species is listed on the SRO list, because time is of the essence to protect endangered species! And as we know, the government is already quite slow. However, perhaps better public communication strategies could be utilized, including stakeholder involvement, citizen science, use of existing organizations, etc. It would also be beneficial to conduct an a priori risk assessment (doesn't need to take too long) for potential for high costs to businesses and the public--in many cases these may be perceived risks and not actual risks. I understand that 9 months might be too short to develop a GRS, but instead of extending this, maybe we need more efforts put towards these response statements. If this is a huge financial barrier, perhaps consider hiring more University co-op students for work like this. I think that enhanced inspection and compliance powers are certainly warranted across the board. What's the point to going to all this effort to (make plans to) protect endangered species, when people and businesses are not being compliant?
Overall, I want to see our timelines tightened, more species protected, stronger protections for existing species, more data on species that don't have enough data, more funding of researchers, and more funding for compliance and inspection. The conservative government has a long history of rolling back environmental protections, under the baseless assumption that this will somehow promote economic growth and opportunity. However, what science has shown us time and time again, is that humans receive innumerable benefits from intact, functioning ecosystems. And endangered species are often key to maintaining ecosystem functions. So our provincial government now has a chance to recognize the importance of protecting species at risk by strengthening protections in the the ESA. We humans have done an incredible job at over-fishing, polluting, deforesting, introducing invasive species, reducing landscape connectivity, building sprawling urban centres, etc. etc. etc. Thanks to science, we now know better than ever the consequences to our actions, and we have a serious responsibility to mitigate and restore ecosystems and the species within them.