The provincial government’s proposed omnibus bill makes Ontario a very worrisome place to be.
Funding for flood mitigation across the province is disappearing and a critical tree-planting program will soon end. The Government of Ontario is proposing a drastic overhaul of Ontario’s Endangered Species Act, 2007 (ESA) through changes put forward in Schedule 5 of Bill 108, an omnibus bill tabled just yesterday. The ESA – once an exemplar of environmental legislation – is being transformed from a series of overlapping loopholes into one giant sinkhole.
All these changes have consequences
beyond the environment. I am the parent of a 9-year-old girl who, because of a
very rare genetic disorder, is visually-impaired, developmentally delayed and
dependent upon a wheelchair. Nature has played a key role in her health and
development since birth.
Regular camping trips and outings to
natural areas have exposed my daughter to birdsong and frog calls that have
stimulated her cognition and helped her develop listening skills. They have also
enabled her to interact with other nature-lovers of all ages, abilities and
backgrounds. I have no doubt that if we can continue our family excursions, she
will have the potential to be a happy, healthy and more independent member of
society.
Even with a disorder whose hallmark is
regression, my daughter has consistently made developmental gains and her quality
of life has continued to improve. Those gains and that quality of life are now
in jeopardy because the health of our environment and the species that inhabit
it has been deemed expendable.
The provincial government is
prioritizing a balanced budget and increased efficiency without considering the
best way to achieve those goals. It costs nothing to leave in place wetlands,
meadows and forests that provide Ontarians with much-needed clean air, stress
relief and recreational opportunities. Not impeding access to natural areas for
caregivers and their charges involves no bureaucratic red tape.
If the Ontario government is truly
intent on reducing costs and stimulating economic growth, it should focus on
measures that improve the health, wellbeing and productivity of all its citizens.
Instead, it is eliminating environmental safeguards and potentially increasing
my daughter’s future reliance on traditional healthcare resources and
government support. This short-sighted thinking frightens me. It should
frighten all Ontarians.
Environmental deregulation has a face:
it is the face of my daughter.
Lisa Richardson was the Associate Editor of ON Nature Magazine.
5 Replies to “Environmental Deregulation has a Face”
Hello Lisa,
Your personal story about your daughter, strengthens my resolve to fight harder and increase my concerted efforts to do eveything I can to convince those in who hold the reins of power to take bold actions now.
The actions we take to today will determine if our children and our children’s children will embrace a future filled with hope and optimism or face a future filled with dread and fear.
My children are adults and I have informed them that all I want for Mother’s Day
is a donation to Nature Barrie for tree planting and for them to forward an email I created about the incredible benefits of trees and email it to Doug Ford, Rod Phillips, Doug Downey , Andrea Khanjin and John Yakabust. I keep sending the same emails every day until I get an answer.
I am also urging all my contacts to become actively involved in Avaaz’s letter writing campaign to 10 chosen world leaders, to convince them to make a strong case at the Nature Summit in September in New York to protect 50 % of our precious Earth. http://secure.avaaz.org/campaign/en/protect_half_our_planet_loc_2019/
If interested I can email you the 4 letters already written to Pope Francis, General Guterres, Justin Trudeau, and Angela Markel.
Cheers,
Regulatory capture is a form of government failure which occurs when a regulatory agency, created to act in the public interest, instead advances the commercial or political concerns of special interest groups that dominate the industry or sector is is charged with regulating. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/regulatory-capture.asp
Thank you for sharing.
We have signed the petition and will speak whenever and wherever we can with the sincere hope that this government will wake up and smell the spring flowers before its too late.
We must oppose the regressive conservative government’s anti-nature and anti -environment conservation who wish to allow more Pollution and greater emissions to spend all their money mitigating global climate change disasters—–ignorantly calling the rest of us partisan “elites”
Hello Lisa,
Your personal story about your daughter, strengthens my resolve to fight harder and increase my concerted efforts to do eveything I can to convince those in who hold the reins of power to take bold actions now.
The actions we take to today will determine if our children and our children’s children will embrace a future filled with hope and optimism or face a future filled with dread and fear.
My children are adults and I have informed them that all I want for Mother’s Day
is a donation to Nature Barrie for tree planting and for them to forward an email I created about the incredible benefits of trees and email it to Doug Ford, Rod Phillips, Doug Downey , Andrea Khanjin and John Yakabust. I keep sending the same emails every day until I get an answer.
I am also urging all my contacts to become actively involved in Avaaz’s letter writing campaign to 10 chosen world leaders, to convince them to make a strong case at the Nature Summit in September in New York to protect 50 % of our precious Earth.
http://secure.avaaz.org/campaign/en/protect_half_our_planet_loc_2019/
If interested I can email you the 4 letters already written to Pope Francis, General Guterres, Justin Trudeau, and Angela Markel.
Cheers,
Gwen Petreman
Children’s Author and Illustrator
Regulatory capture is a form of government failure which occurs when a regulatory agency, created to act in the public interest, instead advances the commercial or political concerns of special interest groups that dominate the industry or sector is is charged with regulating. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/regulatory-capture.asp
Thank you for sharing.
We have signed the petition and will speak whenever and wherever we can with the sincere hope that this government will wake up and smell the spring flowers before its too late.
We must oppose the regressive conservative government’s anti-nature and anti -environment conservation who wish to allow more Pollution and greater emissions to spend all their money mitigating global climate change disasters—–ignorantly calling the rest of us partisan “elites”
Thank you for sharing your story with us Lisa.