Submitted by Francesca Borromeo Program Manager, Bayside Astronomy, Bruce Peninsula Biosphere Association
The Bruce Peninsula is one of Canada’s most environmentally unique landscapes; home to fragile ecosystems, endangered species, and deep-rooted Indigenous cultures. As a biology student working with the Bruce Peninsula Biosphere Association this summer, I’ve had the privilege of witnessing firsthand the beauty and vulnerability of this region. Special thanks to Victoria Lant and Mike Warkentin, whose encouragement and guidance made this research and community outreach possible.
Two new laws, Ontario’s Bill 5 and Canada’s Bill C-5, have now passed, and their implications for the Bruce Peninsula are serious. Both aim to speed up development by weakening oversight, but in doing so, they risk unraveling decades of local conservation efforts.
Ontario’s Bill 5 introduces Special Economic Zones; designated areas where development can move forward without local planning input, environmental assessments, or archaeological reviews. This opens the door for projects like quarries, landfills, and roads to be built near Lion’s Head Nature Reserve, Cabot Head, or Dyers Bay, without evaluating the impacts on wetlands, groundwater, or species-at-risk. The newly introduced Species Conservation Act only protects visible features like dens and nests, ignoring the surrounding habitat. Feeding grounds, migration routes, and breeding zones could be destroyed without consequence.
Imagine road construction beginning during spring in Hope Bay: the Jefferson salamander, a rare species that depends on temporary vernal pools, could lose its only local breeding site. Blasting near Dyers Bay could collapse underground hibernation shelters used by the Massasauga rattlesnake. At Black Creek or Lindsay Tract, increased lighting and forest clearing could displace threatened birds like the Eastern whip-poor-will. These aren’t hypotheticals, these are likely outcomes when oversight is stripped away.
Federally, Bill C-5 allows ministers to label developments as “projects of national interest,” fast-tracking them through a new one-review system that skips early environmental planning and public input. Projects like energy corridors, pipelines, or major roads could now be built near Bruce Peninsula National Park or Fathom Five National Marine Park without assessing cumulative damage to water quality, migratory birds, or the karst terrain that defines our region.
The risks go beyond nature. Cultural heritage is also under threat. Under Bill 5, archaeological assessments can be waived in Special Economic Zones, meaning sacred Indigenous sites could be developed without being properly studied or protected. As the Saugeen Ojibway Nation wrote in their formal response: “The changes Ontario proposes in Bill 5 amount to an attack on our rights and way of life… We cannot and will not allow Ontario to destroy our way of life and our Territory.” These lands are not blank spaces. They hold memory, meaning, and millennia of stewardship.
The Saugeen/Bruce Peninsula is not just a tourist destination; it is a living, interconnected ecosystem and cultural landscape. Development should never come at the cost of its protection. These new laws challenge us to stay informed, stand together, and ensure that the future of the Peninsula reflects the values of those who call it home.
BPEG is holding a field trip on 3 September. Join us as Joachim Schmidt takes us on an informative walk through his property to explore soil development as influenced by the glacial deposits and other geological events that created the escarpment. Talk starts promptly at 7 p.m. at 125 Moore Street. Some parking is available onsite but carpooling is recommended.
