Endangered Species in Ontario

American White Pelican (Endangered)

Endangered Species Act

On Jan. 18, 2019 the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks issued a press release which is both readable and reasonable. The title of the release is "Ontario Taking Steps to Improve the Endangered Species Act" and in it the government asks for our input and we have about 40 days to offer some. The Act was passed over 10 years ago and it is not unreasonable to assume that it could be tweaked a bit to improve it, particularly since it is the government's desire to ensure "stringent protections for species at risk."

I will declare an interest at this point: I am interested in the environment. I have also come to think that it might be better for all of us if we paid more attention to local issues rather than to shiny foreign ones. I will also admit to being skeptical of the stated intention of the Ontario Conservative Party to "achieve positive outcomes for species at risk" since the sentence concludes this way, "...while reducing burden and increasing efficiencies for businesses." Given some of the recent actions of the Ontario government there are other reasons for skepticism.

I do believe we are in for hard times economically speaking. I do think we also need to find efficient ways to ensure that Ontario is "Open for Business". I am not sure, however, that we need to close safeguards that were created to protect the environment, although there may be ways to improve them.

If you are a confirmed libertarian or charter member of the CFIB you should be interested in this issue. You should also pay attention to it if you are a devoted environmentalist or Greenpeace Canada activist. Here are some sources that will be of interest.

Sources:

The news release: Ontario Taking Steps to Improve the Endangered Species Act: Government Invites Public Input on Increasing Efficiencies, Achieving Positive Outcomes for Species.

Links to the Discussion Paper are provided and there is a link to the government's Made-in-Ontario Environment Plan.

As I indicated above, many of the statements in the document are reasonable and many would be accepted by the most ardent environmentalist. Here are a couple that are a little more problematic:

"Authorization processes can create significant administrative burdens and delays, in particular for applicants filing numerous authorizations or registrations under the rules-in-regulations, for routine activities."

And

"The requirements that applicants must fulfill to obtain an authorization can be extensive, creating barriers to economic development (e.g., in some cases achieving an overall benefit to a species as required under a s. 17(2)(c) permit can be long, onerous, and unpredictable)"

The picture above is from the Ontario Species at Risk web site.

See also:

TVO The Agenda with Steve Paikin The Ontario PC Environment Plan "Last week, the Ontario PCs revealed their plan to clean up the environment. But critics charged that it wasn't much of a plan at all. The Agenda welcomes Rod Phillips, minister of environment, conservation and parks, to explain why he thinks his plan is best for Ontario."

"Ontario Reviews Endangered Species Act to find ‘efficiencies for businesses’ By Marco Vigliotti. Published on Jan 18, 2019 (ipolitics,ca)

"Doug Ford is reviewing Endangered Species Act to find 'efficiencies for businesses'" By Fatima Syed National Observer, Jan. 18, 2019.

"Ontario premier defends carbon tax recession claims in wake of criticism By Shawn Jeffords, The Canadian Press — Jan 22 2019

Doug Ford is blowing smoke by warning about a recession By STAR EDITORIAL BOARD, Toronto Star,Tues., Jan. 22, 2019

For an earlier related post see: Bill 66