According to the COSEWIC Annual Report 2023, 12 of the species now targeted for delisting were recently classified as Threatened or Endangered. This amendment directly contradicts that scientific assessment.
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The Living Planet Index shows that vertebrate populations in Canada have declined by nearly 60% since 1970. Removing protections at this moment is an ecological betrayal.
Stripping away species protections without full ecological assessments is legislative malpractice. Each of these 106 species exists within a larger web of interdependence. Remove one node, and the entire system risks collapse.
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I do not support this proposal. Rather than significantly weakening protections for species at risk, this government should be safeguarding biodiversity, respecting Indigenous rights and ensuring local communities benefit from the ecosystem services that nature freely provides.
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Wildlife doesn't wait for government cycles. When protections are delayed or erased, extinction accelerates. By giving politicians the final say over species classification, this amendment severs conservation from science. Survival should never be subject to industry lobbying or election calendars.
Please consider keeping these species on the endangered species list. This is very blatantly a way to push through projects in environmentally sensitive areas. The echoes and impacts of this decision will be felt environmentally among vital indicator species.
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Removing species protections under the guise of regulatory “efficiency” is an insult to every frontline conservation worker in Canada. These species are not red tape—they are lives, signals, indicators of a planet in crisis. We cannot allow bureaucracy to become a death sentence.
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This amendment sets a dangerous precedent: it tells the public that facts can be erased if they are inconvenient. Once we allow species status to be redefined by political will, we are no longer practicing conservation—we are practicing denial.
For many Indigenous communities, endangered species are not just data points—they are kin, stories, and sacred responsibilities. Centralizing authority within the federal government without consultation violates both ecological ethics and Indigenous rights.
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Please continue to protect the endangered species! Oppose bill 5! This is ridiculous! Where is the consultation with indigenous peoples and scientists???
Removing protections from species that have already been identified as at risk is not reform—it’s erasure. These are not “overclassified.” They are struggling to survive in habitats we’ve already fragmented, polluted, and monetized. This legislation accelerates their destruction.
This amendment strips away the last remaining legal shields for vulnerable species. It’s a gift to developers, corporations, and short-term profits. It is a betrayal of every public promise made about climate leadership, ecological responsibility, and intergenerational justice.
It’s not just about 106 species. It’s about precedent. If the government can remove protection from one group today, it can do so again tomorrow. This is how collapse begins—not all at once, but through a thousand small cuts while the world is distracted.
The regulatory process exists to protect what cannot speak for itself. If we hand the power to classify extinction risk to politicians, we’ve abandoned any claim to scientific integrity. This is greenwashing by policy, and it must be stopped.
Ecological memory is long. Every species removed from protection takes with it thousands of years of adaptation, interdependence, and meaning. You cannot rewrite that with a vote. You can only be remembered as the government that chose to delete life.
Species protections were never meant to be convenient. They exist to stop extinction, even when it’s politically or economically unpopular. Transferring control to the government without independent oversight invites abuse, especially when those same powers benefit from deregulation.
Many of the species on the chopping block have dwindling habitats, fragmented breeding grounds, and declining food sources. Their survival depends on legal protections, not government discretion. This amendment abandons our responsibility to defend the fragile margins of life.
If these species weren’t at risk, they wouldn’t have made it onto the endangered list in the first place. Pretending their danger has vanished just because protection is inconvenient doesn’t make it true—it makes it negligent.
The very existence of this amendment signals a shift: from protection to profit. It reframes biodiversity as a barrier instead of a foundation. Once we reduce life to a legislative checkbox, we have already lost our claim to stewardship.
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According to the COSEWIC…
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Proposed legislative and regulatory amendments to enable the Species Conservation Act, 2025
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The Living Planet Index…
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Stripping away species…
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I do not support this…
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Wildlife doesn't wait for…
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Please consider keeping…
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Removing species protections…
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This amendment sets a…
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For many Indigenous…
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Please continue to protect…
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To whomever is reading this,…
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Removing protections from…
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This amendment strips away…
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It’s not just about 106…
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The regulatory process…
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Ecological memory is long…
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Species protections were…
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Many of the species on the…
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If these species weren’t at…
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The very existence of this…
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