This comment is submitted on…

This comment is submitted on behalf of the Huron Stewardship Council. The Huron Stewardship Council (HSC) is a not-for-profit, volunteer organization that works to conserve our natural spaces in Huron County for future generations through wise and attentive management.

Huron County is the most agriculturally productive county in Ontario. The County stretches along 100 km of Lake Huron shoreline in southwest Ontario. In the rivers and valleys of this agricultural landscape is a thriving rural and natural environment, one that is occupied by a variety of Species at Risk.

Re. ERO 019-8016 Regulatory changes under the Endangered Species Act

We urge you to immediately forgo the proposed amendments to regulations under the Endangered Species Act, 2007 (ESA).

The proposed changes will undercut critical rules to protect many of Ontario’s most vulnerable plants and animals. All of the proposed amendments are intended to speed up or reduce restrictions on activities that harm those species.

The proposal to redefine habitat regulation for Redside Dace in O. Reg 832/21, would reduce restrictions on harmful activities targeting non-occupied habitat and undermine species recovery efforts.

The proposal to amend O. Reg. 830/21 to remove the 30-day waiting period between submission of a Butternut Health Expert Report and activity exemption registration undermines the legitimacy of the program and eliminates accountability.

The proposal to amend O. Reg. 242/08 to allow the application of the exemptions in the regulation for select newly listed species would disregard the concern and urgency to act on behalf of the newly listed species.

Species at risk in Ontario are at a tipping point and the province is “losing more biodiversity than we are conserving,” according to the Ontario Biodiversity Council.

Your ministry should not proceed with the proposed regulatory amendments, but should focus on upholding provincial, national, and global commitments to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030.

Thank you for your consideration.