Hell-Bent on Destroying More of our Natural Heritage in the Name of Economic Development
Sign Ontario Nature’s Petition, calling on the Ford government not to weaken the province’s Endangered Species Act
A Brief Commentary by NAL publisher Doug Draper followed by a Message and Petition from Ontario Nature
Posted February 18th, 2019 on Niagara At Large
From Doug Draper –
What is it about Conservatives in Canada and Republics in the United States that they cannot see a path to growth and prosperity without weakening or ripping apart policies and programs for protecting what is left of our natural environment.
Ontario’s Algonquin Wolf still needs our help. Ontario Nature photo
Don’t these people have any children or grandchildren that they want to leave some of our natural heritage to? Or is it all about making a quick buck at any cost?
Conservatives and Republicans never used to be this callous and uncaring when it came to the responsibility we all have to keep what is green, blue and beautiful on this planet clean and healthy for present and future generations.
There are shining examples over the past hundred years and more of leaders of these parties taking stewardship of large tracts of wilderness for generations to come, and of passing milestone legislation to protect the quality of our air and water, and to conserve what is left of our green places.
In Ontario, in the 1960s and 70s, it was a Conservative government and set the framework for environmental protection legislation that, among other things, reversed the damaged that threatened to render our Great Lakes unfishable, swimmable, and undrinkable and their surroundings uninhabitable for humans and other species.
Unfortunately, those kinds of Conservatives have become an endangered species.
These days, in the guise of wanting to be more “open for business,” we have Conservatives led by Doug Ford and the greediest elements of the business community who present us with a false choice between economic growth and protecting what is left of our natural heritage. They have not got the imagination and wisdom, and the generosity of heart for who will be living here decades from now to do it any other way.
So along, along with a parade of other things it is doing to choke our air with more carbon and other pollutants and unleash more urban sprawl on the countryside, it is now flirting with the idea of compromising Ontario’s Endangered Species Act.
Ford and his Conservative minions may think that getting the chance to form a government with less than half the popular vote may be a licence for them and the greediest elements on the business community to run a dictatorship, and run roughshod over our environment for the next three and a half years, but we have to keep sending out a clear message that it is not.
The petition you can click on below, introduced with a message from one of the province’s most respected environmental groups, Ontario Nature, is one more opportunity to let Ford’s Conservatives know that we are not going to let all of the environmental gains in this province, going back at least as far as the Conservative government of Bill Davis in the 1960s and 70s, be gutted by the forces of greed.
Brandings Turtle, Ontario Nature photo
Here is Ontario Nature’s message and a link to its petition and call to protect Ontario’s Endangered Species Act –
Trouble Brewing
Under the guise of “enabling positive outcomes for species at risk” the Ontario Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) is reviewing the ESA.
Allegedly responding to criticisms that the law is administratively burdensome and creates “barriers to economic development,” the government’s discussion paper is closely aligned with its broader “open-for-business” approach to governance.
Make no mistake: the ministry is inviting the public to consider options that, if passed, would undermine the very cornerstones of the law: science-based listing that includes Indigenous Traditional Knowledge, mandatory habitat protection, and legislated timelines for planning and reporting.
Such proposals are about deregulation and making it easier for industry and development proponents to destroy the habitats of endangered plants and animals.
To learn more and to sign Ontario Nature’s petition, click here – https://ontarionature.org/programs/endangered-species/ .
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