The Ontario Government's Shameful Flip-flop on Endangered Species

 

While scandals rock municipalities, the Senate and the PMO, let's not forget the whoppers perpetrated by the provincial Liberal government under the guidance of Dalton McGuinty and crew. As if the money-sucking, morally reprehensible health care and gas plant scandals weren't bad enough, the Ontario government has opted to pay for its fiscal mismanagement at the expense of the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) and the Ministry of the Environment (MOE), the province's only lines of defense against the greed of corporate and industrial developers. Cash-strapped Ontario is jettisoning programs and protocols faster than you can say Close that racetrack! And who is paying the price?

 

Endangered (and threatened) species. Ultimately, however, we, the people of Ontario, will be the losers, as we will be losing our precious and irreplaceable biodiversity and the beauty and grace of these wild creatures and plants - forever.

 

Think this is just my embittered opinion? Well, read this and weep: Gord Miller, the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario, has  released a special report slamming the provincial government for the recent changes made to the once-gold standard Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 2007.

 

I urge you to read Mr. Miller's blog and the report,  Laying Siege to the Last Line of Defence: A Review of Ontario's weakened protections for species at risk.