Environmental advocates and conservation groups are rallying against proposed amendments to Ontario’s Endangered Species Act because protections for vulnerable species will potentially be weakened. The proposed new rules are easing protections to increase opportunities for various types of development and the creation of mining exploration trails. …Under the proposed amendments, habitat protection for the endangered redside dace minnow would be reduced from 20 to 10 years, potentially allowing development activities in areas inhabited by the fish for less than a decade. In the case of mining exploration, the changes would nullify current Endangered Species Act (ESA) prohibitions that prevent companies from damaging and destroying habitat for trail-making. However, the new rules would include a suite of mitigation measures to protect caribou, wolverines, grey foxes, polar bears and other birds and small mammals. Conservationists say the changes prioritize development interests over the protection of at-risk plant and animal species.