I agree with Don Jackson and…

I agree with Don Jackson and Ontario Nature.  Please do not proceed with these changes, especially with respect to redside dace.  In fact, please do not proceed with 413.

Don Jackson, a professor at the University of Toronto’s department of ecology, who studies aquatic ecosystems:  “For the government, it’s not a convenient species.”  Jackson says the change amounts to writing the minnow off when it needs help the most. The species can’t be re-introduced if the places where it used to live are developed or destroyed. “It’s not a science-based decision,” Jackson says. As construction in Ontario boomed in the 2010s, local numbers of the minnow plummeted by half.  In 2021, the auditor general found the Environment Ministry has never denied a permit to harm species at risk and grants most automatically.  “We’ve got this situation where the government’s actually cutting in half the length of time when an area would be considered to be occupied,” he says. “But at the same time, it’s also not allowing sampling to be conducted in those areas. So, we really don’t know what the status is and whether the species is present or not.”

The group Ontario Nature says, “another example of the Government of Ontario’s relentless push to prioritize development over environmental protection.

source: https://thenarwhal.ca/ontario-endangered-species-redside-dace-highway-4…