In Ontario there are already…

In Ontario there are already 243 species at risk. The very densely populated Carolinian region of southern Ontario is home to the highest concentration of endangered species in Canada. It is not surprising that habitat loss and degradation is the main reason for the decline of many of these plants and animals. These fragile species would not survive in Ontario without the protections and, supports for their recovery and the recovery of their habitats, provided by the Ontario's Endangered Species Act.

The endangered species are an integral part of Ontario's natural assets. We need our natural assets for protections: from severe weather events; from the environmental threats to our physical and social health, and; from the economic uncertainty that environmental degradation brings.
The required review of Ontario's Endangered Species Act provides a good opportunity for the government to strengthen the act. Sadly the proposed changes will instead weaken the ESA. Science based consultation and decision making should be strengthened not weakened. Municipalities or other infrastructure developers should be required to redress the damage they cause the at-risk species habitats. There are many significant problems with the proposed changes e.g.:

- The act should not 'provide greater Minister’s discretion on protections, while keeping the assessment as a science-based process at arm’s length'. Habitat protection decisions should be driven by scientific expertise not Ministerial discretion.
- The act should not give the Minister 'authority to temporarily suspend species and habitat protections for up to three years for some newly-listed species'. Once listed the species and their habitats should be immediately protected.
- The act should not 'allow municipalities or other infrastructure developers the option to pay a charge in lieu of completing certain on-the-ground activities required by the act'. They should be required to bear the full cost of complying with the ESA.

With thoughtful and responsible leadership we do not have to compromise our protections of the at-risk and endangered species to have a healthy economy. Creative solutions driven by science based consultation are needed. The proposed changes clearly lack the needed science driven solutions. Please not make these severely flawed changes and leave the ESA as it is.