Dear Editor:
I would like to share my thoughts and a few concerns in response to Bill 229 and in particular Schedule 6, titled Protect, Support and Recover from COVID-19 Act (Budget Measures 2020).
When I was a little girl of about 10, a small wetland in a neighbouring farm field was drained and my heart was broken for the wildlife that rested there as part of a long migration pattern. It was also a safe haven for deer and other small animals and a place for a little girl to spend quiet time connecting with the natural world.
Sixty-seven years later, Doug Ford and company are making deals with developers to ignore environmental protections for significant wetlands. We now know that wetlands are an integral part to our water supplies, flood control, habitat and safe havens for many species especially migratory birds.
My heart is breaking again as significant wetlands which have been protected are under attack. We have the knowledge that these spaces need to be protected spaces for generations to come for many reasons. They are not places to generate wealth for land developers.
Is there another way to determine how we deal with things like wetlands?
A webinar on Reconciling Indigenous Ways of Knowing has given me cause for hope that we might be entering a new way of being in Canada in our relationships with the First Peoples and how we might become better stewards of the land.
The speakers spoke about the importance of ceremony, cooperation, kindness and compassion. They spoke to the need to respect one another and especially Mother Earth and the importance of diversity amongst everything and everyone. They continued that we must look to Mother Earth as a living being, not something to be exploited to further greed and selfishness. This is not the way Bill 229 and Schedule 6 is being presented for the third and final reading.
In closing, please stop the attack on conservation authorities and please remove Schedule 6 from Bill 229. We need more voices around the table, not just the elected officials and their wealthy friends. It is time to reconnect with Indigenous Ways of Knowing, which respects the importance of a value system that includes human, environment and indeed all living things to be protected – not for this generation, but for our children and grandchildren into the future.
Pavement over a wetland, changing the mandate of conservation authorities, destruction of and limiting access to green spaces, is not acceptable for the benefit of a very few as we go forward into a better future for all.
Burna Wilton,
Elora