Industry exemptions to Ontario wildlife laws put caribou at risk, critics say
Environmentalists say Ontario’s threatened boreal caribou will be put at greater risk if the province goes ahead with a proposal to give the forestry industry a two-year extension to exemptions from certain wildlife protection laws.
The province argues, however, that it needs more time to come up with a balanced set of protections that meet industry, environmental and community demands.
Forestry projects on Crown land — which accounts for the vast majority of Ontario’s forested areas — do not currently have to abide by parts of the Endangered Species Act that prohibit killing, harming, capturing or damaging the habitat of endangered or threatened species.
The government says the five-year exemption — granted in 2013 and set to expire this year — was necessary because the act overlaps with the Crown Forestry Sustainability Act, which requires companies to have a “forest management plan” to minimizes adverse effects on wildlife and the environment.