Sweeping changes buried in housing bill called ‘doomsday scenario’ for Ontario’s endangered species
By Kate Allen Toronto Star
The Ford government buried 20 pages of sweeping changes to Ontario’s Endangered Species Act in Thursday’s omnibus housing bill, amendments that wildlife experts say would gut protections for the province’s at-risk animals and plants.
Bill 108, the “More Homes, More Choice Act,” would weaken classification criteria, allow the environment minister to delay protections for up to three years, and provide developers, industry and others who impact the habitat of endangered species with a suite of options to continue their activities, including a fee-in-lieu fund derided by critics as “pay to slay.”
“It really is a doomsday scenario for endangered species in this province,” said Kelsey Scarfone, program manager at Environmental Defence Canada. “It’s basically been whittled down to nothing. They might as well have just cancelled it,” she said.
Lindsay Davidson, a spokesperson for the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks, said Ontario is committed to ensuring “best-in-class” protections for endangered and threatened species.
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