By Abdul Matin Sarfraz / Canada’s National Observer / Local Journalism Initiative The boreal caribou roams more than 1,000 square kilometres each year across Ontario’s northern forests, relying on vast, undisturbed land to find food, escape predators and raise its young. But under Premier Doug Ford’s new controversial Bill 5, that critical habitat has been reduced — on paper — to just a calving site. The rest can now be cleared, mined or developed. The law, widely seen as favouring developers and extractive industries, replaces Ontario’s Endangered Species Act with weaker rules that eliminate recovery goals, shrink the definition of “habitat” and allow development to proceed without environmental studies or expert review. Critics call it one of the most sweeping environmental rollbacks in provincial history. They warn it sidelines science,…
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