This proposal is extremely…

This proposal is extremely concerning. Ontario is lucky enough to be home to a wide range of fauna and flora species. Unfortunately, many of these species are at risk, and until now the Endangered Species Act has done a good job protecting these species and their habitats. That being said, these proposed changes will result in irreversible damage. These animals are important to their ecosystems, and therefore to us. When you lose a keystone species because you allow developers to pay into a fund rather than actually protect the animals, a ripple effect occurs, and humans will lose services we rely on. Ecosystem services such as carbon storage, water filtration, and pollination are dependent on key plant and animal species. For that reason, among others, this proposal is incredibly short sighted and will end up costing the public more money in the long run.

Allowing developers to pay into a fund rather than investing in habitat restoration or mitigation techniques is absurd. The Committee on the Status of Species at Risk in Ontario is made up of qualified, expert scientists for a reason. Opening this to “community knowledge” is not appropriate. Scientists spend years learning about the precise requirements of species at risk. These intricacies are not easily understood and cannot be accounted for with “community knowledge”. Healthy populations at the northern limit of a species range are critical and will become more important as climate change forces species to move North. Automatic protections are necessary to avoid economic and social bias. We have to prioritize protection of our natural resources in many cases. We cannot get a species or ecosystem back once we destroy it, I cannot stress this enough. Ministerial interference is extremely problematic.

Essentially, the proposal you have made is disappointing, ineffective, and infuriating. This government has continuously put things that Ontarians care about at risk, whether that is vulnerable animals or vulnerable humans. I urge you to either leave the Endangered Species Act as it is, or truly make it better, rather than destroying it.