Futures and Commodity Market News

PORT HOPE, ON, Nov. 4, 2025 (CNW Group via COMTEX) --

The Government of Ontario continues to flood the zone â?? a strategy of overwhelming individuals or groups with information, making it difficult to respond effectively. From Bill 5's weaking of legislation for Ontario's most vulnerable species and enabling lawless special economic zones, to transferring lands out of provincial parks, to making it easier for provincially significant wetlands to lose their protected status. The government is rapidly dismantling these formerly sacred policies that were decades in the making.

Now, even Areas of Natural and Scientific Interest, commonly known as ANSIs, are seemingly no longer off limits. The Ministry of Natural Resources quietly adjusted the boundary of an ANSI near Port Hope following a request of a lobbyist for a developer despite an ongoing hearing at the Ontario Land Tribunal. This adjustment was made without Indigenous consultation or public transparency and it was done using an opaque ministry procedure manual.  

"This ANSI example is the latest in a troubling pattern of weakening protections for our vital natural areas, where lands and waters formerly considered protected, are no longer safe. This trend threatens our precious biodiversity and undermines the deep love and respect for nature many people in Ontario hold," says Ontario Nature's Conservation Policy and Campaigns Director, Tony Morris.

"This unilateral decision to change the boundary of the Garden Hill Area of Natural and Scientific Interest (ANSI) has stripped environmental protections from a site long recognized for its geological and physical heritage, while at the same time threatening water security within the hamlet. If legally protected ANSI boundaries can be changed to suit development interests, no protected land in Ontario is safe â?? it is a dangerous precedent," says Greg Burns, Chair of the Garden Hill Neighbourhood Group.

Ontario Nature is supporting the Garden Hill Community Group, other organizations and concerned residents in calling on the Minister of Natural Resources, Mike Harris, to restore the ANSI designation and conduct a transparent review of ministry processes to ensure ANSI's are safeguarded.

Additionally, Ontario Nature and its Nature Network continue to call on the Government of Ontario to protect more lands and waters, strengthen protections for species at risk and protect, and restore wetlands.

Ontario Nature protects wild species and wild spaces through conservation, education and public engagement. Ontario Nature is a charitable organization representing 9,500 members, 130,000 supporters and 150 member groups from across Ontario. For more information, visit�ontarionature.org. 

We acknowledge that there are 46 treaties and other agreements that cover the territory, now called Ontario, and our roles and responsibilities as Treaty partners. We recognize the inherent rights and responsibilities of Indigenous Nations, who have cared for and governed Turtle Island since time immemorial.

Background

SOURCE Ontario Nature

SOURCE: Ontario Nature

John Hassell | Communications and Engagement Director, Editor johnh@ontarionature.org
| 416-786-2171

COMTEX_470020056/2197/2025-11-04T07:00:00

Copyright (C) 2025 CNW Group. All rights reserved.