Ontario ministry experts raised concerns about at-risk species law changes, emails show

By Leah Borts-Kuperman, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Narwhal As the Doug Ford government prepared to replace the Endangered Species Act with new legislation, the province’s natural resources staff warned of weakened habitat protections, reduced oversight and new gaps in enforcement, according to documents obtained by The Narwhal. In March 2026, the Endangered Species Act was officially replaced with the Species Conservation Act, which removes or limits provincial protection from many threatened plants and animals. Now, 275 pages of records, some publicly available and others only …