OTTAWA, December 5, 2025 — A coalition of leading animal protection, environmental, and public health organizations has sent a joint letter to Premier Doug Ford demanding immediate action after the Auditor General of Ontario confirmed systemic failures in the province’s implementation of the Environmental Bill of Rights (EBR).
The Auditor General’s latest performance audit found that the Ontario government is routinely denying the public access to critical information required to assess environmental decisions that put animals, ecosystems, and human health at serious risk.
“This is not a technical problem, it is a democratic failure,” said Krystal-Anne Roussel, Co-Director and Counsel at Animal Environmental Legal Advocacy (AEL Advocacy). “When the government withholds key information about environmental impacts, it undermines public participation and exposes animals, communities, and ecosystems to irreversible harm.”
The Auditor General found that one in five Environmental Registry of Ontario (ERO) proposal notices failed to explain the expected environmental impacts of proposed decisions. This mirrors the 2024 audit, which found similar deficiencies in 18 percent of postings.
Even more concerning, when the Auditor General recommended that the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks require mandatory disclosure of anticipated environmental impacts, the Ministry disagreed.
The coalition’s letter documents multiple recent examples where this lack of transparency has blocked meaningful public participation. These include failures to disclose key scientific information on proposed regulations under the new Species Conservation Act, 2025, and a series of changes to trapping regulations framed as efforts to “reduce regulatory burden” for licensed trappers and fur dealers—without any evidence to justify expanded killing methods, weakened reporting requirements, or trapping during closed seasons.
These decisions severely undermine the ability of scientists, Indigenous communities, conservationists, and the public to assess risks to wildlife, ecosystems, air and water quality, and community health. The consequences are far-reaching: weakened wildlife protections, degraded natural habitats, increased exposure to pollution and disease, and heightened public health risks tied to environmental contamination and zoonotic disease.
The coalition is calling on Premier Ford to take immediate action to:
-
Uphold the EBR by ensuring Ontarians are fully informed of environmental proposals and able to meaningfully participate in them. This includes requiring that all scientific and technical studies, reports, environmental assessments, and other supporting materials cited in ERO postings be made publicly available at the time of posting in a free, accessible, and clearly linked format.
-
Mandate plain-language summaries of key evidence on ERO postings so that non-specialist audiences and affected communities can understand and engage with proposed decisions.
-
Create a formal legal mechanism to challenge deficient or misleading ERO postings.
-
Reinstate an independent Environmental Commissioner with real enforcement powers.
“The EBR exists to protect the public, our environment, and future generations,” Roussel added. “Right now, it is being hollowed out in practice. Premier Ford must act immediately to restore transparency, accountability, and the public’s right to participate in decisions that affect their health, their environment, and the lives of animals across this province.”
ABOUT AEL ADVOCACY: Animal Environmental Legal Advocacy (“AEL Advocacy”) is a public interest law practice and not-for-profit organization based in Ontario. Our lawyers understand the important interconnection between humans, animals, and the environment. We leverage our legal and political expertise to support individuals, communities, and organizations working to protect animals and the environments where they live.
– 30 –
For more information or to request an interview, please contact:
Krystal-Anne Roussel
Co-Director and Legal Counsel