An environmental organization says Ontario’s Bill 5 puts the future of polar bears in the province at risk.
The Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act repeals Ontario’s Endangered Species Act and replaces it with the new Species Conservation Act.
Shane Moffat, the conservation campaigns and advocacy manager with Ontario Nature, argues the new legislation has weaker protections for threatened species, such as polar bears.
Moffatt said under the previous legislation, the province had to develop recovery strategies for threatened species.
“In addition, under the Endangered Species Act, it was prohibited to harm or damage polar bear habitat,” he said.
“With Bill 5 being passed, that seems no longer likely to be the case.”
Bill 5 also grants cabinet the power to create “special economic zones” where projects, such as building new mines or transportation infrastructure, can be exempt from having to comply with any provincial law or regulation, as well as municipal bylaws.
It’s meant to fast-track projects of national importance to the economy.
In Ontario, there are between 800 and 1,000 polar bears that live along Hudson Bay.
Amy Baxendell-Young, the manager of northern Ontario’s Cochrane Polar Bear Habitat, said mining companies, in particular, could damage polar bear habitats if they are given free reign to develop resources near Hudson Bay without having to adhere to provincial and local regulations.
But Baxendell-Young said climate change remains the greatest threat to Canada’s polar bear population.
“As climate change begins to affect their natural habitats, what we’re seeing is this ice-free period in the year is getting longer,” she said.
“Without ice, polar bears cannot hunt their main prey, which are seals. They need the sea ice as a platform to be able to access them.”
Baxendell-Young said that in Ontario, polar bears build dens for their young in peatland, which is also becoming less stable due to climate change.
She said the province’s polar bear population has been on a steady decline for the last 10 to 20 years.
‘Robust environmental protections’
Alexandru Cioban, spokesperson for Ontario Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks Todd McCarthy, said in an email to CBC News that the new Species Conservation Act “establishes robust environmental protections by creating clear, enforceable rules for businesses to follow while strengthening the ability to enforce species conservation laws.”
Cioban said the new legislation will also be supported by an investment of $20 million per year into an “enhanced species conservation program.”
Under the Species Conservation Act, Ontario’s Committee on the Status of Species at Risk in Ontario will continue to classify species as extirpated (when an animal is no longer present in a geographic area), endangered or threatened.
The statement also notes that legislation “prohibits engaging in activities likely to result in a species no longer living in the wild in Ontario.”
