This is a tragedy of the…

This is a tragedy of the highest order - a true betrayal of Ontarians. We don't want this. Searching through the comments on the last ERO for Bill 5, Special Economic Zones and more, the outcry is palpable.

We. Do. Not. Want. This.

There was so much work that went into creating the ESA, and now for those species to be forgotten is a tragedy. We have lost almost 3 billion birds since the 1970s in North America. In Canada: https://naturecounts.ca/nc/socb-epoc/report/2024/en/ the State of Canada's Birds report outlines the decline of many species. It is disturbing that birds in particular are being stripped of their protections provincially because they are an inconvenience for the elites who have sold their soul to money.

Piping Plover habitat is being destroyed at Wasaga Beach, Chimney Swift habitat is being removed year-round, Bank Swallows are only protected during the breeding season - what is going on. You CANNOT live with just a bedroom, when you need a kitchen to also eat. You CANNOT expect animals to survive by only protecting where they nest, or burrow, without protecting where they forage, and rest. That is ridiculous, and proves once again that the people making these decisions have the scientific understanding of a 3 year old. Don't greenwash the Act by calling it Species Conservation Act. It's not conserving species, it's stripping them of their right to live.

I implore you to re-consider:
1. Placing migratory birds back on the Species Conservation Act list without expecting federal Acts to step in when those staff are also at capacity and there is no accountability at either level for protections. Do the right thing, and include migratory birds under provincial protections - Ontario in particular hosts many migratory birds in comparison to the rest of the country and we NEED to protect them. Additionally, the tourism sector booms each spring because of bird migration - do not take this PROVEN economic bonus away from this province by removing protections for these species.
2. Recognize habitat is not just a nest, or a small fraction of what species actually need to survive. This is an atrocious misunderstanding of the ecological importance of different requirements for foraging, nesting, breeding, home range, territories, etc., as well as life-cycle seasonality. Re-implement a more holistic understanding of what habitat is. Protect habitat year-round not just during the breeding season, and expand the definition of habitat to actually be evidence-based on what species require, including the size of habitat, to persist in a healthy population.
3. Please do not let developers just have to register a project and move forward with it before ensuring that no species at risk will be impacted. It is ridiculous to think that developers won't break ground and remove species at risk habitat before it's too late - THIS ALREADY HAPPENS. I implore you to ensure that before developers break ground, protections are in place for species at risk AND their habitats (definition updated as per recommendation #2 above).