Monday March 4: Deadline for comment on Endangered Species Act review

The Jefferson Salamander is endangered, meaning it lives in the wild but is facing imminent extinction or extirpation.

Let the Province know you don’t think vulnerable species are just red tape

AWARE News Network

With so many species – caribou, polar bears, sturgeon, turtles, eagles, swallows, salamanders, butterflies and more – at risk of disappearing forever, a review of Ontario’s Endangered Species Act is long overdue.

Biodiversity – including that of insects, which underpin life on Earth –  is on a precipitous decline; forests, wetlands and other habitats are being fragmented and gobbled up for human use every day; we are at a critical moment in the life of our planet.

But the Ford government’s discussion paper, published on its Environmental Registry, indicates it considers the problem to be the need for more “efficiencies for business” rather than more effective protection for species.

When the ESA was introduced in 2008 it was considered world-class in the measures being proposed to recover vulnerable species. Sadly, in 2013, the Wynne government brought in amendments that substantially weakened the once pioneering legislation, with exemptions and permits to allow  mining, forestry, aggregate extraction, development and other land uses to destroy habitat.

A December, 2017 study by the David Suzuki Foundation found that more than 2,000 registered activities exempted from ESA prohibitions against harm to species at risk and their habitat, for which no information had been publicly released.

“It is uncertain if the MNRF is monitoring these activities or the mitigation measures that proponents claim they will complete. In most instances, the MNRF requires that mitigation plans be developed, but not that they be submitted. Under the exemption regulation, there is no approval process… The ministry has no authority under the ESA to say no to any project. In essence, the ministry gave up this authority when it put the exemptions in place.”

Here are some comments from different groups. 

Here’s an example of a municipality that responded to citizens’ concerns and did a full consultation on the province’s review.

Let your voice be heard! Get your own comment in before midnight on Monday March 4 2019.

Link to ERO post 013-4143

Scroll down and leave comment in “Submit Online” box.

Or email to the Public Input Coordinator at ESAReg@ontario.ca

Or mail to Public Input Coordinator, Species Conservation Policy Branch, 300 Water Street, Floor 5N, Peterborough ON K9J 3C7