This proposal would be a…

This proposal would be a disastrous step backward for conservation in Ontario. The proposed changes to the definition of "habitat" leaves out almost all of the critical areas for the survival of species at risk, including areas where they feed, mate, and migrate. The government having the power to dictate which species are listed without science-based justification renders the act virtually useless, as does the proposed consideration of economic factors when making listing decisions. The largest driver for population decline in species at risk in Ontario is habitat loss, the vast majority of which is caused by economic factors like development and natural resource extraction. What is the point of having legislation protecting species at risk at all if the government can decide at any time to de-list a species because it stands in the way of development? It makes me sick.
The proposed registry for harmful activities is just an even worse version of the Species at Risk Conservation Fund, which already allowed destructive activities to be undertaken for a laughable amount of money. If this proposal goes through it will be even easier for corporations to destroy species at risk habitat.
The proposed removal of requirements to develop recovery strategies, management plans, government response statements, and reviews of progress would further weaken the act to the point of uselessness. These documents are vital to the strategy and ongoing management of species at risk in Ontario, and removing them would set conservation in this province back 20 years.
These proposed changes fly in the face of all conservation science and would be an unmitigated and unimaginable disaster for all species at risk in the province. Listen to scientists, not corporations. The supposed economic benefits of this bill - which I am doubtful of since biodiversity provides an extremely wide array of economic benefits that would take a serious hit - are not worth the eradication of species at risk in Ontario.