I profoundly disagree with…

I profoundly disagree with this notice's definition of low risk activities. This proposal follows a recent trend by the government weakening water protections like 025-0416. Mining process that user water always create a risk of contamination.

This proposal appears contrary to Ministry mandate set out in its Statement of Environmental Values and on its website:
"What we do

Protect Ontario’s air, land, water, species at risk and their habitats"
"The Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change’s vision is an Ontario with clean and safe air, land and water that contributes to healthy communities, ecological protection, and environmentally sustainable development for present and future generations."

These are examples, but are not my only concern with how the Statement of Environmental Values and mandate of the Ministry seems to have failed to have been considered by the proposal.

There's no good reason to be exempting mining activities from the Ontario Water Resources Act and its regulations. The regulations and documents made under the Mining Act, were made with Ontario Water Resources Act compliance in mind. This proposal wants to use documents that were not made with protecting water in the way the Ontario Water Resources Act and Environmental Protection Act in mind. The protections made under the Mining Act were rather developed to supplement the protections provided by the Ontario Water Resources Act and other legislation in Ontario that protects water. I see no reason to end this relationship. The Mining Act regulations and documents should continue to work a supplemental fashion to the Ontario Water Resources Act and Environmental Protection Act, and not try to be used as a replacement.

I encourage the Ministry to not move forward with this proposal.