• The Ontario Wetland…

• The Ontario Wetland Evaluation System (OWES) is based on scientific criteria.
• It is a science-based system that provides a way of rating wetlands relative to each other.
• The proposed overhaul of OWES is not informed by science and proposes to change the science-based criteria in order to ensure that very few wetlands would be deemed provincially significant in the future.
• Even more concerning, many if not most existing provincially significant wetlands could lose their designation because of these changes. These wetlands would no longer benefit from the level of protection from development, removal or alteration that the provincially significant designation currently provides.
• These proposed changes will only benefit land speculators and developers, at the expense of the natural environment, and would not benefit the people of Ontario.
• Bill 23 and the accompanying policy changes could be catastrophic for what remains of the natural environment in Ontario.
• These changes, which would render the province less resilient to climate change and further biodiversity loss, are not consistent with good environmental planning and decision-making.