The Ontario government…

The Ontario government should continue to have a regulatory role with respect to the protection of species at risk. Maintaining species and habitat protection for SAR is critical to their protection and recovery. The decision on whether or not to list a species or to protect a species or its habitat should not be at the discretion of the Minister. These decisions should not be political. Maintaining a legislated timeline for when a species will be protected by the ESA after it is listed on the SARO list must be maintained. The Minister should also not be given the power to ignore the recommendations from COSSARO with respect to listing.
The implementation of the Endangered Species Act has always been challenging for MNRF as the program was never staffed or resourced properly. Additionally, over the years the development of policies and technical guidance has been slow and minimal at best. The transfer of the responsibilities to another Ministry almost certainly will result in less staff and resources dedicated to the implementation of the ESA. Gutting the ESA for the purpose of helping developers undermines the purpose and intention of the Act.