ERO-019-2636 – More damaging amendments to undermine the Endangered Species Act – Joint

“Blandings Turtle” by tcmurray74 is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

Overall, the material presented makes clear that the Fund mechanism will make it easier for habitat destruction to occur at the hands of industry and developers. Indeed, according to the proposal the main purpose of the Fund is to give operators a quicker and less cumbersome alternative to completing actions to provide an overall benefit for the species negatively impacted by their activities. The Fund is a part of a package of damaging amendments to the Endangered Species Act, 2007 (ESA), passed in June 2019 that, taken together, represent a gross weakening of the ability of the Act to fulfill its purpose to recover Ontario’s at-risk species. Our primary concerns with the Fund are outlined below.