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© Lora Denis
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Dear MPP/Honourable,
Planet Earth is a shared home for humans and millions of other species, and our fates and well-being are interdependent. Yet, as a result of unsustainable human activity, we are now in the throes of the largest mass extinction since the disappearance of the dinosaurs more than 65 million years ago. In response to this crisis of biodiversity loss, the Government of Ontario passed a new Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 2007, with support from all parties (only five dissenting votes). Deemed to be a gold standard in species at risk legislation at the time, this law is now under review.
We, the undersigned, are reaching out to all MPPs to urge you to uphold the spirit and intent of the ESA as well as its focus on demonstrable benefit to species, and to ensure that it is not weakened during the ongoing review.
We note, with deep concern, that environmental protection rollbacks – making it easier for industry and development proponents to proceed with activities that harm species at risk and their habitats – appear to be the overall focus and intent of the options put forward for consideration in the government’s discussion paper. Reassuring statements that the review is intended to “improve protections,” “improve effectiveness” and provide “stringent protections” are misleading given the changes under consideration. These include options that would undermine the very cornerstones of the law: science-based listing (including Indigenous Traditional Knowledge), mandatory habitat protection, and legislated timelines for planning and reporting. Proposals to “increase efficiencies” and “streamline approvals” consist of weakening automatic protections for species-at-risk and their habitats, simplifying requirements for industry permits and exemptions to undertake harmful activities, and extending or removing legislated timelines for planning and reporting. They have nothing to do with advancing species recovery, which in most cases requires habitat protection and restoration, and everything to do with allowing private business interests to override those of Ontario’s most vulnerable plants and animals.
While there have been challenges in administering the ESA, these are the result of poor government implementation, not the law itself. In her 2017 environmental protection report, the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario provided a detailed analysis of this implementation and concluded that the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry had “utterly failed to implement the law effectively” (p. 248). Inadequate notifications and unreasonable delays in processing permits, common complaints of industry, are examples of issues that should be addressed through improved implementation. No amendments to the statute are necessary.
Indeed, when the act has been applied properly, species and their habitats have been protected and development has proceeded. A good example can be found in the upgrading of Highway 69/400 corridor where a four-lane highway replaced a dangerous two-lane one. As part of the ESA permit requirements for this road, fencing and wildlife under and overpasses were constructed. The overall result is lowered risk to endangered species and drivers. Clearly, we can protect species and have sustainable economic development.
There are limits to the Earth’s capacity to sustain human activity. We must recognize these limits and manage human activities with respect for all life, so that all species can thrive and none is driven towards extinction. All humans share this responsibility.
The very presence of species at risk in Ontario underlines the need to change our approaches to using and managing our lands and waters. We ask that you keep the fate of our most threatened plants and animals foremost in your thoughts during the ESA review. Their persistence and recovery are integral to the health, well-being and long-term economic prosperity of the people of Ontario.
Sincerely,
Anne Bell, Director of Conservation & Education
Ontario Nature
Theresa McClenaghan,
Executive Director
Canadian Environmental Law Association
Rachel Plotkin, Ontario Science Campaigns Manager
David Suzuki Foundation
Tim Gray, Executive DirectorEnvironmental Defence
Liz White, Director
Animal Alliance of Canada
Becky Stewart, Director
Ontario Program
Bird Studies Canada
John McDonnell, Executive Director Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society – Ottawa Valley Chapter
Michelle Kanter, Executive Director Carolinian Canada Coalition
Derek Coronado, Co-ordinator
Citizens Environment Alliance of Southwestern Ontario
Paul Berger, Member
Citizens United for a Sustainable Planet
Amber Ellis, Executive Director
Earthroots
Paul Mero, Interim Executive Director
EcoSpark
Kenneth Wu, Executive Director
Endangered Ecosystems Alliance
Graham Saunders, President
Environment North
Tony Maas, Manager of Strategy
Freshwater Future Canada
John Jackson, Chair
Grand River Environmental Network
Graham Flint, President
Gravel Watch Ontario
Patricia Zaat, Country Director
Canada International Fund for Animal Welfare
John Jackson, Chair
Grand River Environmental Network
Graham Saul, Executive Director
Nature Canada
Steve Hounsell, Chair
Ontario Biodiversity Council
Kathryn Enders, Executive Director
Ontario Farmland Trust
Andrew McCammon, Executive Director
Ontario Headwaters Institute
Alison Howson, Executive Director
Ontario Land Trust Alliance
Linda Heron, Chair
Ontario Rivers Alliance
Hilary Chambers, Co-founder & Director
Ontario Wildlands Conservancy
Julie MacInnes, Wildlife Campaign Manager
The Humane Society International/Canada
James Snider, Vice-President, Science, Research & Innovation
World Wildlife Fund Canada
Anna Baggio, Director Conservation Planning
Wildlands League
Lena Ross, Founder & Manager
Activism NB
John Morgan, Chair
AWARE Simcoe
Deb Sherk, President
Bert Miller Nature Club of Fort Erie
Norman Wingrove, Acting President
Blue Mountain Watershed Trust
Tom Wilson, President
Carden Field Naturalists
Ron Reid, Carden Program Director
Couchiching Conservancy
Lois Gillette, President
Durham Region Field Naturalists
Norman Wingrove,Acting President
Blue Mountain Watershed Trust
Dale MacKenzie, Chair
Eagle Lake Farabout Peninsula Coalition
Paul Pratt, President
Essex County Field Naturalists’ Club
Steve Page, Chair
Friends of Charleston Lake Park
Kathy Strachan, President
Friends of Sauble Beach
Peter Kannar, President
Friends of Second Marsh
Don Scallen, President
Halton/North Peel Naturalist Club
Bronwen Tregunno, President
Hamilton Naturalists’ Club
Ian Keith Anderson, Chair of the Executive
Headwaters Nature
Sharon Lovett, Stewards Coordinator
High Park Nature
Lynn Johnston, President
Huron Fringe Field Naturalists
Sheila Fleming, President
Ingersoll District Nature Club
Anthony Kaduck, President
Kingston Field Naturalists
Felicia Syer Nicol, President
Lambton Wildlife
Harriet Madigan, Representative
Living Fit Women’s Club
Janet McKay, Executive Director
Local Enhancement and Appreciation of Forests
Rick Levick, President
Long Point World Biosphere Reserve Foundation
Michael Runtz, President
Macnamara Field Naturalists
Marcel Bénéteau, President
Manitoulin Nature Club
Brian Bissell, President
Midland Penetanguishene Field Naturalists
Dorothy McKeown, President
Nature Barrie
Migs Baker, President
Nature League – Collingwood
Bernie VanDenBelt, President
Nature London
Inga Hinnerichsen, President
Norfolk Field Naturalists
Cara Gregory, President
North Durham Nature
Jack Gibbons, Chair
North Gwillimbury Forest Alliance
Susan Walmer, Executive Director
Oak Ridges Moraine Land Trust
Donna DuBreuil, President
Ottawa-Carleton Wildlife Centre
Gord Edwards, Board Member
Owen Sound Field Naturalists
Bryan Smith, Chair
Oxford Coalition for Social Justice
David Bywater, President
Parry Sound Nature Club
Marg Reckahn, President
Penokean Hills Field Naturalist Club
Ted Vale, President
Peterborough Field Naturalists
Sandra Dowds, President
Prince Edward County Field Naturalists
George Thomson, President
Quinte Field Naturalists
Stephanie Sobek-Swant, Executive Director
rare Charitable Research Reserve
Angus Inksetter, President
Saugeen Nature
David Euler, President
Sault Naturalists of Michigan and Ontario
Margaret Prophet, Executive Director
Simcoe County Greenbelt Coalition
Sister Bonnie MacLellan,
Sisters of St. Joseph
Shawn Moreton, Founding Member
Solidarity Nipissing
Paul Harpley, President
South Lake Simcoe Naturalists
Mark Cranford, President
South Peel Naturalists’ Club
Bill Ingwersen, Chair of Council
St. Andrew’s United Church – North Bay
Bob Johnstone, President
St. Thomas Field Naturalist Club
Kevin Thomason, Secretary
Sunfish Lake Association
Dave Smith, President
Sydenham Field Naturalists
Otto Peter, President
Thickson’s Wood Land Trust
Lynn Pratt, Executive
Thunder Bay Chapter of the Council of Canadians
Bruce Thacker, President
Thunder Bay Field Naturalists
David Stringer, President
Vankleek Hill and District Nature Society
Tim Tottenham, President
Willow Beach Field Naturalists
Gloria Marsh, Executive Director
York Region Environmental Alliance
Jeanne Bénéteau, President
York Simcoe Nature Club
Ontario Nature is a charity that has been protecting wild species and wild spaces through education, conservation and public engagement since 1931. We are there when nature needs us most.
We cannot keep building over our green spaces, and expect to be happy. We are all a part of this Earth, and need to stick together. Nature is the upmost important state, on this planet, to protect. Trees, natural habitats and clean water need to be respected. We are not doing enough. We need to do more. Thank you for your efforts, Ontario Nature. My family and I, we are on your side.
I would love a form letter to this effect that I can sign and send! I am just not as educated on the issues and eloquent as those who are focused on these issues. Thank you for your work on this!
Dear MPP/Honourable,
Planet Earth is a shared home for humans and millions of other species, and our fates and well-being are interdependent. Yet, as a result of unsustainable human activity, we are now in the throes of the largest mass extinction since the disappearance of the dinosaurs more than 65 million years ago. In response to this crisis of biodiversity loss, the Government of Ontario passed a new Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 2007, with support from all parties (only five dissenting votes). Deemed to be a gold standard in species at risk legislation at the time, this law is now under review.
We, the undersigned, are reaching out to all MPPs to urge you to uphold the spirit and intent of the ESA as well as its focus on demonstrable benefit to species, and to ensure that it is not weakened during the ongoing review.
We note, with deep concern, that environmental protection rollbacks – making it easier for industry and development proponents to proceed with activities that harm species at risk and their habitats – appear to be the overall focus and intent of the options put forward for consideration in the government’s discussion paper. Reassuring statements that the review is intended to “improve protections,” “improve effectiveness” and provide “stringent protections” are misleading given the changes under consideration. These include options that would undermine the very cornerstones of the law: science-based listing (including Indigenous Traditional Knowledge), mandatory habitat protection, and legislated timelines for planning and reporting. Proposals to “increase efficiencies” and “streamline approvals” consist of weakening automatic protections for species-at-risk and their habitats, simplifying requirements for industry permits and exemptions to undertake harmful activities, and extending or removing legislated timelines for planning and reporting. They have nothing to do with advancing species recovery, which in most cases requires habitat protection and restoration, and everything to do with allowing private business interests to override those of Ontario’s most vulnerable plants and animals.
While there have been challenges in administering the ESA, these are the result of poor government implementation, not the law itself. In her 2017 environmental protection report, the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario provided a detailed analysis of this implementation and concluded that the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry had “utterly failed to implement the law effectively” (p. 248). Inadequate notifications and unreasonable delays in processing permits, common complaints of industry, are examples of issues that should be addressed through improved implementation. No amendments to the statute are necessary.
Indeed, when the act has been applied properly, species and their habitats have been protected and development has proceeded. A good example can be found in the upgrading of Highway 69/400 corridor where a four-lane highway replaced a dangerous two-lane one. As part of the ESA permit requirements for this road, fencing and wildlife under and overpasses were constructed. The overall result is lowered risk to endangered species and drivers. Clearly, we can protect species and have sustainable economic development.
There are limits to the Earth’s capacity to sustain human activity. We must recognize these limits and manage human activities with respect for all life, so that all species can thrive and none is driven towards extinction. All humans share this responsibility.
The very presence of species at risk in Ontario underlines the need to change our approaches to using and managing our lands and waters. We ask that you keep the fate of our most threatened plants and animals foremost in your thoughts during the ESA review. Their persistence and recovery are integral to the health, well-being and long-term economic prosperity of the people of Ontario.
Sincerely,
Protect what we care about!
Protect nature for the future.
All living things matter. Let’s protect those at risk!
So important! I commend your efforts!
Thanks for your efforts to continue protection for endangered species.
Climate change is a very real threat. We must be more proactive about this.
Blessings for your efforts! My family shares your commitment, we are all in this together.