An environmental group has raised concerns about the impact of Ontario’s Bill 5 on the future of polar bears in the province. The new legislation, known as the Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act, replaces the Endangered Species Act with the Species Conservation Act.
Shane Moffat, the conservation campaigns and advocacy manager at Ontario Nature, has criticized the new law for providing weaker protections for threatened species, including polar bears. He highlighted that the previous legislation mandated the development of recovery strategies for at-risk species and prohibited any harm to polar bear habitats.
Under Bill 5, the government now has the authority to establish “special economic zones” where projects like mining or transportation infrastructure can bypass provincial laws and municipal bylaws to expedite development. This move aims to accelerate projects deemed vital to the national economy.
In Ontario, an estimated 800 to 1,000 polar bears reside along Hudson Bay. Amy Baxendell-Young, the manager of the Cochrane Polar Bear Habitat in northern Ontario, cautioned that unchecked development by mining companies near Hudson Bay could harm polar bear habitats. She emphasized that climate change poses the most significant threat to Canada’s polar bear population, as melting ice reduces their hunting grounds and impacts their ability to access prey like seals.
Baxendell-Young noted that polar bears in Ontario rely on peatland for denning, a habitat increasingly compromised by climate change, leading to a decline in the province’s polar bear population over the past two decades.
In response to criticisms, Alexandru Cioban, a spokesperson for Ontario’s Minister of Environment, Conservation, and Parks, defended the new Species Conservation Act. Cioban stated that the legislation strengthens environmental protections, enforces rules for businesses, and enhances species conservation efforts with a yearly investment of $20 million. The act maintains the classification of species at risk and prohibits activities that could jeopardize wildlife in Ontario.
Overall, stakeholders are divided on the potential implications of Bill 5 on polar bear conservation in Ontario, with environmental advocates warning of risks to the species’ habitat and population trends.