Ontario’s most vulnerable wild species are on the chopping block

To the Editor:

On the afternoon of May 2, Ontario’s wild species came under unprecedented attack with the introduction of the omnibus bill (Bill 108) called the More Homes, More Choice Act, ostensibly aimed at increasing Ontario’s housing supply.

An omnibus bill is a proposed law that bundles related but separate parts. Bill 108 proposes changes to many seemingly-unrelated laws, ranging from the Cannabis Control Act, 2017, to the Labour Relations Act, 1995, to the Environmental Assessment Act, 1990.

Bill 108 contains much that is of concern to Ontarians. We would like to direct your attention to the proposed changes laid out in Schedule 5, more aptly dubbed the Extinction Schedule. If this bill comes into law, the Extinction Schedule could cause dozens of Ontario’s most vulnerable wildlife species to decline or even disappear from our province.

The Extinction Schedule contains the government’s proposed changes to Ontario’s Endangered Species Act, 2007 (ESA). The changes would recklessly hollow out protections for the province’s most vulnerable plants and animals by rolling back protection for endangered and threatened species and making it easier for all industry and developers to harm these species and their habitats.

Our provincial government claims that these changes will “improve outcomes for species at risk.” This statement couldn’t be more wrong or more misleading.

For example, one of the proposed amendments would allow developers and others planning harmful activities to pay into a fund instead of fulfilling the current requirements for on-the-ground overall benefit to these species. This easy way out reduces accountability and makes it far easier to harm species at risk and their habitats.

Other proposed changes would remove automatic protections, provide sweeping authorizations for harmful activities, allow developers to dodge ESA requirements, introduce harmful delays, and much more.

The consequences of these proposed amendments will hit close to home. One of the species, found in this region, is the Piping Plover, a small sandy-coloured shorebird resembling a sandpiper. Piping Plovers rely on the sandy beaches for feeding and nesting, and prefer sparsely-vegetated open sand, gravel, or cobble for a nest site. They forage along the strand line where invertebrates are most readily available.

Under the existing 2008 Endangered Species Act, the Town of South Bruce Peninsula was charged in 2018 with two separate counts of damaging Piping Plover habitat due to its policy of beach-tilling, disking, and raking. The trial pits successful conservation efforts that saw Piping Plovers return to Ontario's Great Lakes for the first time in 30 years, against the town's management of Sauble Beach for the benefit of summer beach goers.

Under the proposed new act, the town could potentially pay a fee and then proceed to destroy the Piping Plovers’ habitat. Also under the new act, the town could lobby the government to remove the bird of its protective status entirely, using the proposed rationale that while the bird is critically endangered in Ontario, it is less so in Michigan and thus acceptable to allow its extirpation here.

The town’s mayor, Janice Jackson, said as much recently: "We don't believe that the Piping Plovers are endangered at all. The new (environment) ministry is reviewing the endangered species list and we're hoping that it will remove the Piping Plovers. That would certainly resolve things going forward."

It is truly an affront that our provincial government introduces a law that removes critical protection for disappearing wildlife at the same time as the United Nations releases an expert report showing that nature is declining globally at rates unprecedented in human history, with one-million species at risk of extinction worldwide.

The United Nations report tells us it is not too late to make a difference, but only if we start now at every level, from local to global. The Government of Ontario is shirking its responsibility to do more – in fact, it’s exacerbating the crisis by proposing to do less.

Over the past few months, Ontarians have been experiencing an assault on the most vulnerable in our province, and our endangered species are next on the chopping block. It’s time to draw a line in the sand.

Please phone, write or meet with Huron-Bruce MPP Lisa Thompson. Let her know that you strongly oppose Bill 108 – especially the Extinction Schedule.

Caroline Schultz
Executive director
Ontario Nature

Jim Roberts
Huron-Kinloss Township resident