My comments refer to ero 013…

My comments refer to ero 013-5033

As a retired teacher of science and chemistry I am demoralized and angry that the current government of Ontario is attempting to soften the Ontario's Endangered Species Act. I have followed environmental issues throughout my teaching career and I have witnessed a steady degradation of laws and policies that aim to protect our precious environment. This time the attack is on the Endangered Species Act.
The current government wants to make things easier for businesses to increase profits, but at the expense of loosening the policies to protect Ontario species.
For example, the MECP wants to allow developers and other business interests to pay a fee so that they can proceed with actions that can harm Ontario species. I do not believe money is the most precious thing on earth. I believe life in all its forms is more valuable than money. Forget the fees and protect our species at risk.
The new proposal aims to limit ESA protections so that they apply only in specific geographies or under specific circumstances. This kind of loophole could exclude important habitats and species from protection.
The Committee on the Status of Species at Risk in Ontario is made up of qualified scientists who follow the scientific method in determining whether a species is at risk. Now MECP is proposing to include people who are not scientists on this committee. This could allow people who have a self interest to degrade species protection to join this important committee.
MECP could suspend species and habitat protections for up to 3 years based on social or economic considerations. These delays would be exempted from EBR posting and consultation requirements. Thus the public would receive no notice and no input on such decisions.
MECP proposes to allow activities approved under other laws to be carried out without any additional authorizations under the ESA, even if they harm threatened or endangered species or their habitats. This could lead to permanent exemptions from the ESA.
I am tired of our government officials' relentless push to compromise our environment for the sake of doing business. Is it not obvious by now that the health of our living environment has been decimated in the name of doing business? To give a stark example of this decimation I recently read from "Falter" by Bill McKibbon published in 2019:
"... if you weigh the earth's terrestrial vertebrates, humans account for 30% of their total mass, and our farm animals another 67%, meaning all wild animals ... total just 3%."
In light of this brutal and depressing fact, when does restraint make its appearance in the business world? I strongly urge the current government not to gut the current ESA.