A Call to Restore Democracy, Defend Biodiversity, and Uphold Indigenous Rights

Doug Ford’s government has launched an aggressive, profit-driven assault on Ontario’s people, ecosystems, and democratic institutions.

He claims to be building a future—but what he’s actually doing is destroying one.

 

WHAT’S HAPPENING:

• Bill 5 stripped municipalities of their ability to protect land, water, and communities through local planning, silencing voices across Ontario.
• The Greenbelt land grab opened 7,400 acres of protected land to developer insiders—until public outrage forced a backtrack.
• Ford’s gutting of Ontario’s Endangered Species Act removed the last legal protections for species like monarch butterflies, barn swallows, caribou, and snapping turtles—reducing them to “obstacles” in the way of profit.
• The Ring of Fire mining expansion threatens the James Bay lowlands, one of the world’s largest peatland carbon sinks, and violates the sovereignty of Indigenous Nations with incomplete consultation and insufficient environmental oversight.

These are not isolated missteps—they are part of a coordinated dismantling of environmental law, democratic process, and Indigenous land rights.

Decision-makers include Prime Minister Mark Carney, Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne, the MPs on the House Finance Committee reviewing Bill C-15, the relevant Senate committees, Premier Doug Ford, and Greg Rickford as Ontario’s Minister of Indigenous Affairs and minister responsible for the Ring of Fire file. (1)

 

THE SCIENCE SPEAKS:

Ontario’s forests are being fragmented at a dangerous rate. Forest fragmentation—the breaking up of large, continuous forests into smaller patches—has devastating consequences for biodiversity.

• Fragmentation increases edge effects, which expose interior species to invasive species, pollution, and temperature extremes.
  It disrupts wildlife corridors, making it impossible for species like moose, lynx, wolves, and even turtles to migrate, reproduce, or adapt.
• Scientific studies show fragmented habitats lead to higher extinction rates, ecosystem collapse, and an irreversible loss of genetic diversity.
• In southern Ontario, more than 80% of wetlands and 70% of forests have already been lost or degraded—making every remaining ecosystem critical.

The James Bay Lowlands, targeted by Ford’s Ring of Fire project, stores 35 billion tonnes of carbon—an ecological treasure whose destruction would release massive climate emissions and dry out vital water systems.

 

HONOUR THE TREATIES:

Ontario sits on the lands governed by numerous treaties, including:

• Treaty 9, signed with Cree and Ojibwe Nations, which guarantees the right to hunt, fish, and live off the land.
• The Williams Treaties, which affirmed Indigenous title in southeastern Ontario.
• Robinson-Huron and Robinson-Superior Treaties, covering large parts of northern Ontario.

These treaties are not symbolic. They are binding, living agreements under both Canadian and international law.

Violating them through extractive development without free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) is a direct breach of Section 35 of Canada’s Constitution and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).

 

THIS IS A WAR ON LIFE.

Doug Ford may talk about housing and jobs—but his government’s actions show a clear pattern:

• Protect corporate interests.
• Dismantle environmental protections.
• Suppress public and Indigenous resistance.

When you:

• Silence local governments
• Deregulate species protection
• Push mining through intact ecosystems
• And ignore Indigenous consent

You are not building opportunity.

You are ending futures.

 

WE, THE UNDERSIGNED, DEMAND:

• The immediate repeal or meaningful reform of policies that have weakened environmental protections, including measures introduced under Bill 5 and subsequent provincial changes, as well as federal provisions, including those within Bill C-15, that affect environmental oversight and decision making
• The full restoration and strengthening of Ontario’s Endangered Species Act
• A public inquiry into the Ring of Fire, including ecological and cultural impact assessments
• A binding nation-to-nation consultation process with all affected Indigenous communities
• The reinstatement and permanent legal protection of all lands removed from the Greenbelt

 

THIS IS OUR LINE IN THE SAND.

We are not powerless.

We are not voiceless.

We are not alone.

As citizens, land defenders, and people of conscience, we have a responsibility to rise when systems fail.

Doug Ford’s government has failed us all.

Let this petition be more than protest—let it be a turning point.

Let it carry the voices of the forests, the wetlands, the pollinators, and the people.

Let it be a declaration:

We are defending the sacred.

We will not be silent.

Because the land remembers.

And so do we.

 

 

 

📢 UPDATES

 

Friday, March 20th, 2026

Added (1): Decision-makers include Prime Minister Mark Carney, Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne, the MPs on the House Finance Committee reviewing Bill C-15, the relevant Senate committees, Premier Doug Ford, and Greg Rickford as Ontario’s Minister of Indigenous Affairs and minister responsible for the Ring of Fire file.

 

Wednesday, March 18th, 2026

When I started this petition, it came from a concern about what’s happening here in Ontario: the gradual weakening of environmental protections, development in ecologically sensitive areas, and a growing lack of transparency in how decisions are being made.

But it’s becoming clear that this is not isolated.

At the federal level, Bill C-15 – Part 5, Division 5 proposes giving ministers the power to override existing laws, including environmental protections, for certain projects or actors, under broad terms like “public interest” and “economic growth.”

This reflects something deeper.

A shift away from stable, consistent systems that protect ecosystems, biodiversity, and communities, and toward discretionary decision-making, where those protections can be set aside.

Environmental protection only works when it is clear, accountable, and applied equally. When those systems begin to weaken, the impacts are not always immediate, but they build over time.

On our land.  
On species at risk.  
On Indigenous rights.  
On public trust.

This is why this petition matters.

Because what’s happening in Ontario is part of a broader pattern — one that is evolving, expanding, and shaping how environmental decisions are made across Canada.

And it’s something we all have a role in paying attention to.