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  • I can't be the only one who was rolling their eyes reading the CBC's recent story about Bill 5: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/bill-5-protect-ontario-by-unleashing-our-economy-act-guide-1.7542478

    Bill 5 would scrap Ontario's Endangered Species Act and replace it with an entirely new law called the Species Conservation Act, which critics say waters down protections.

    The most significant provisions: changing the definition of a habitat so protection would only apply to an area immediately around an animal's den or nest, and empowering the government to overrule the province's independent scientific committee that classifies species as endangered or threatened.

    The government calls this a "new approach" to protecting wildlife, plants and other species, and justifies the changes on the basis of efficiency.

    I'm reminded of the Looney Tunes episode, "No Parking Hare", on that particular point in fact. The lack of sincerity in the proposed watered-down revision couldn't be more clear.