Thanks for this chance to…

Thanks for this chance to comment on the review of the Ontario Endangered Species Act.

My experience is that too often an endangered species occupies a battleground between people who wish to build on a piece of land and people who do not wish them to build on that same piece of land.
The result of the conflict often depends on who has the most persuasive experts and the best lawyers.

Therefore, any attempt to change the act should be closely examined by an independent judge or judges to see if the new wording would tip the result of a tribunal or court case toward the position of a would-be developer and away from protection of the species.

Also in my experience, too many developers are only interested in their own short-term profit, not in the long-term goal of sustaining the liveability and productivity of land. They often use words like "streamline approvals" and "economic development" to support what turn out to be plans for ruining the land they covet in order to make their profit. Unfortunately, these two phrases appear in the rationale for this review.

As a result, I am extremely suspicious of changes that might result from this review. We are already witnessing degredation of land, water and air from irresponsible development in Ontario. I can only hope that somewhere in the minds of the people who may write changes to this Act is some notion of responsibility to future generations. For some places, it could be too late to vote out a government which supports irresponsible development.