I am deeply opposed to the…

I am deeply opposed to the proposed changes to the Endangered Species Act and the proposal for the Species Conservation Act 2025. I am a university researcher who studies the impacts of human activities on vertebrate species at risk in Ontario and beyond. At a time when biodiversity is in crisis, and climate change is having profound and potentially irrevocable consequences on nature and human health, we should be strengthening protection of species and ecosystems, not dismantling it. The latest Living Planet Report (2024) estimates a mind-boggling loss of wildlife populations globally of over 70% since 1970 (https://livingplanet.panda.org). The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) estimates that approximately one million species worldwide are at risk of extinction in the near future. Ontario is home to tremendous biological diversity with > 30,000 species (https://ontariobiodiversitycouncil.ca/biodiversity/). Its natural systems are under tremendous stress - in many parts of SW Ontario almost all forests, natural grasslands and wetlands have disappeared (e.g. https://sobr.ca/indicator/loss-of-wetlands/) because of some forms of industrial agriculture, rapid urbanization, and other human actions - in some instances > 90% of wetlands regionally have disappeared. Insect pollinators are disappearing with dire projections for the future of insect-pollinated crops (https://www.ontario.ca/page/pollinator-health). Some species have been extirpated (e.g. Blanchard's Cricket Frog) and others are at risk of doing so very soon (e.g. bobwhite quail).

I understand the dire need for housing (presumably affordable) and economic development to provide jobs, but short-circuiting the legislation designed to protect species and engage in meaningful consultation is not the way to achieve this. Rather, the Ontario government should be strengthening protection and providing a well-funded robust mechanism for doing so. If the desire is to expedite the process and achieve scientifically informed decisions, then many more dedicated personnel within relevant governmental agencies should be hired. Coupled with these concerns, I also fear that the proposed changes will disenfranchise Indigenous communities at a juncture in our history when we should be accelerating efforts for reconciliation.

In sum, I encourage the Ontario government to abandon these proposed changes, and rather to become a leader in environmentally-enlightened and sustainable economic development and facilitating approval processes informed by the best science, Indigenous insights, and all stakeholders.