Dear Madam/Sir, I am writing…

Dear Madam/Sir,

I am writing to express my opposition to the proposed changes to Ontario’s Endangered Species Act put forward in Schedule 5 of Bill 108. The purpose of the Act is to protect species at risk; the proposed changes would substantially weaken its efficacy, allowing corporate and political interests to override the results of scientific research when it comes to determining what protections are granted to the province’s most vulnerable wildlife species.

Ontario’s wild plant and animal species provide ecological, cultural, and economic value. The residents of Ontario depend on the province’s biodiversity to sustain the ecosystem supporting various economic activities and life itself, to provide recreational opportunities, to enhance quality of life, to define our cultural identity, and to attract tourists that stimulate our economy. We cannot allow cherished and valuable species such as the Piping Plover, Boreal Caribou, and Small White Lady’s-Slipper to slide towards extinction. An Ontario that is poor in biodiversity would be a poorer Ontario indeed, and not a place in which I want to live, pay taxes, or raise a family.

I would be outraged to see the government entrusted with representing interests of its constituents – my interests – seriously consider the changes to Ontario’s Endangered Species Act put forward in Schedule 5 of Bill 108. These changes would unnecessarily put at risk what I most value in this province. I urge the government to remove Schedule 5 – in its entirety – from Bill 108.

Thank you.