Public speaks out against Endangered Species Act

THUNDER BAY, ON—Hundreds of people from all walks of life have signed their names to a letter to the Premier of Ontario urging him to avoid the decimation of the province’s forestry sector that will occur with a wrongly implemented Endangered Species Act.
Municipal leaders, housewives, bankers, lawyers, business owners,
educators, forestry workers, high school students, journalists and police
officers are among those signing the letter that outlines the issues with the
government’s current implementation of the Act that exposes one of the
province’s largest industries to crushing duplication of process and frivolous
court challenges.
“We are seeing the breadth and depth of concern that is felt by people
across this province. Some of the signatories of this letter are doing so on
behalf of thousands of people,” observed Iain Angus, chair of the Ontario
Forestry Coalition (OFC) which issued the letter and request for signatures.
“People have a growing understanding of what a wrongly implemented Act
will do to their livelihoods and their communities. They are going to be very
vocal in sending a message to Queen’s Park that government cannot pander to select southern Ontario special interest groups at the expense of jobs and
future economic opportunity,” added Anne Krassilowsky, president of the
Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association (NOMA).
Thunder Bay Mayor Lynn Peterson explained, “Virtually every person signing
the letter understands the need to protect species at risk. They also
understand that Ontario has platinum standard forest management practices that already meet the primary objectives of the new Endangered Species Act.”
The OFC, which represents municipal leaders, First Nations communities,
Chambers of Commerce, Union locals and forest industry partners, has examined other jurisdictions in which similar implementation of endangered species legislation was enacted.
“The results in the U.S. state of Oregon have been tragic and fatally
flawed,” said Jamie Lim, president/CEO of the Ontario Forest Industries
Association who points to news articles as recent as June 23 from Oregon where the economic havoc of poorly implemented legislation continues to plague hundreds of communities.
“We are not fear mongering, we are not exaggerating,” stated Greenstone
Mayor Michael Power. “We have the evidence from other jurisdictions. We have the recommendations from the government’s own Ministry of Natural Resources staff and the opinion of the government’s own legal counsel. Implementing the Endangered Species Act using a permitting system is absolutely the wrong path.”
The Act must be implemented with a long term regulation that recognizes the existing Crown Forest Sustainability Act already protects species at risk and meets the primary objectives of the Endangered Species Act,” he concluded.
Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union spokesman Kim Ginter points to election year commitments from the Premier and his former Minister of Natural Resources David Ramsay to implement the ESA with the necessary long-term regulation.
“By reneging on those commitments there are 230,000 working families in
this province that are at risk of losing their livelihoods. We’ve got to get
the implementation of the Act right,” said Ginter.