Eastern Whip-poor-will Photo: Ron Ridout
Bird Studies Canada strongly opposes proposed changes to Ontario’s Endangered Species Act (ESA), as brought forward in Schedule 5 of Bill 108. The changes would remove essential legal protections for species at risk and for the habitats that sustain them.
The proposed changes would lead to delays in protecting species at risk – delays of up to three years for newly listed species – at the discretion of the Minister. The proposed changes would also weaken Ontario’s science-based approach to listing which species receive protection. The proposal weakens virtually all aspects of Ontario’s Endangered Species Act and could put development and industrial interests ahead of species at risk. These changes are inconsistent with the purpose of the Act, which is to protect and recover species at risk in Ontario.
Bird Studies Canada and many other conservation organizations have written the Government of Ontario in support of species at risk. Please add your voice for Ontario’s imperilled flora and fauna by providing comments on the 10th Year Review of Ontario’s Endangered Species Act.
You can submit your comments online through the Environmental Registry of Ontario (file reference: ERO # 013-5033): https://ero.ontario.ca/notice/013-5033. Please tell the Government of Ontario that you want strong protections for species at risk and their habitats. When you submit your comments, be sure to ask the government to remove Schedule 5 in its entirety from Bill 108.
The comment period closes on Saturday, May 18, 2019 (11:59 p.m.).
