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NO TAX BRAKES SPECIAL SPRING ChECK UP wITh OIL ChANGE & TIRE ROTATION Oakville's town council is calling on the province to stop the advancement of Bill 108, arguing the pro- posed legislation will have negative impacts on com- munity building, proper planning and even the En- dangered Species Act. During its Monday, May 13, meeting, the town's planning and development committee listened to a presentation on changes to Ontario's Endangered Spe- cies Act proposed through Bill 108. The bill, which the Ford government says will in- crease the supply of hous- ing in Ontario, passed its first reading on May 2. The province has invit- ed municipalities to com- ment on the proposed changes to the Endangered Species Act between. "The province has stat- ed that changes to the En- dangered Species Act will improve outcomes for spe- cies at risk by implement- ing recommendations re- ceived to modernize and improve the effectiveness of the act," said Kirk Big- gar, town senior planner. "Those are the prov- ince's words." Biggar summarized some of the proposed changes. One change would give the Minister of the Envi- ronment, Conservation and Parks the power to ex- tend the timelines for when a species is classified and then added to the Species at Risk Ontario List. Another change would consider a species' condi- tion across a broader scale, perhaps even outside of Ontario. "So, if something is real- ly threatened here and not so threatened somewhere else, it might get that 'not so threatened' status," said Biggar. Another change would allow the minister to make agreements to permit what the province calls conser- vation banking. Biggar said that essen- tially, a developer could de- stroy the habitat of a spe- cies as long as the develop- er provided land for that species elsewhere. "There's also another proposed change that would permit the payment of a charge for the destruc- tion of habitat or the killing of a species," said Biggar. "That would go into a fund that could be used for conservation and other services." In their conclusion, town staff voiced concern that legislation intended to protect species at risk would be undermined by the changes. Biggar said staff also worry that species at risk would be less protected un- der the proposed changes. He said town staff be- lieve it is vital to the health and wellness of the prov- ince's people and environ- ment that the integrity of the Endangered Species Act is maintained. Biggar said the Town of Oakville has one of the most biodiverse environ- ments in Ontario and is home to 900 species of plants, 185 types of birds, 30 species of amphibians and reptiles, 29 types of mam- mals and 58 different kinds of fish. He said a number of these species are consid- ered endangered and threatened. Mayor Rob Burton said the province's proposed changes could best be de- scribed as "Pay to Slay." "This is like an on- slaught on everything we've been trying to do for the last 12 years," he said. Council voted to send the comments of town staff to the Minister of the Envi- ronment. Oakville Progressive Conservative MPP Stephen Crawford said the pro- posed changes enhance government oversight and enforcement powers to en- sure compliance with the act. He noted the proposed changes were informed by what the province heard in consultation with the pub- lic, Indigenous communi- ties and conservation groups. Crawford said to further help species at risk, the province has allocated $4.5 million as part of a fund for the Species at Risk Stew- ardship Program for 2019- 2020. Later in the meeting, Ward 5 town and regional Coun. Jeff Knoll brought forward a motion calling on council to oppose Bill 108 not only on the grounds that it would have negative impacts on the Endan- gered Species Act, but would also have negative consequences for the Edu- cation Act, the Develop- ment Charges Act, the Con- servation Authorities Act, the Municipal Act, the On- tario Heritage Act and many others. Knoll noted Bill 108 would once again allow an unelected, unaccountable body, similar to the previ- ous Ontario Municipal OAKVILLE COUNCIL VEHEMENTLY OPPOSES ONTARIO'S PROPOSED CHANGES TO ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT DAVID LEA dlea@metroland.com NEWS See COUNCIL, page 17