As this tiny frog disappears from Canada, conservationist warn fast-tracking bills put more species at risk

The Blanchard's Cricket Frog is so tiny it can fit on your thumb, and the distinctive call for which it is named would make it easy to hear — if it hadn't recently been declared locally extinct in its wetland habitat of southwestern Ontario. 

Thomas Hossie, assistant professor of biology who studies amphibians at the province's Trent University, described the sound as "shaking a bag of marbles." But the frog hasn't been seen (or heard) in decades.

The last confirmed sighting in Canada was in 1977 on Lake Erie's Pelee Island. There have been some unconfirmed sightings since then, but the trail ran cold in 1990, when the Blanchard's Cricket Frog was first listed as an endangered species under federal laws.

In 2024, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada, an independent panel of scientists that assesses federal species at risk and advises the federal environment minister, said the frog was extirpated — meaning it's no longer present in Canada, though it can be found in other places.

It's the first land species to disappear from the country after being listed as endangered by the federal government, which is holding consultations until July 7 on formally listing the species as extirpated.

All this comes under the shadow of new legislation that allows governments to expedite certain projects by speeding the approval of things like environmental assessments. Environmental advocates say what's happened to the Blanchard's Cricket Frog should be a wake-up call for governments about the impacts of removing crucial protections for at-risk species.

New laws could remove protections, advocate says

Last Thursday, Prime Minister Mark Carney's signature "nation-building" projects bill passed the Senate unamended, despite concerns raised by environmental advocates and Indigenous groups. 

Bill C-5 gives the federal government extraordinary new powers to fast-track certain initiatives that have the potential to boost the Canadian economy amid the U.S. trade war. This can mean expediting environmental approvals for things like mines, roads and pipelines. 

The Ontario government passed its own fast-tracking law last month. Ontario Premier Doug Ford's Bill 5 completely overhauls provincial laws protecting endangered species and gives the province the power to expedite certain projects.

Both levels of government should take the frog's extirpation as "a wake-up call," according to Shane Moffatt, an advocacy manager with the environmental organization Ontario Nature. 

"These measures have the potential to remove crucial protections for species at risk, and that's the last thing we need right now," Moffatt said. "In order to build a more sustainable and healthy society and to build strong economies, we need to be conserving biodiversity around us."

He also wants the federal government to be explicit about the primary reasons for the frog's disappearance, which include the loss of its wetland habitat and pollution from fertilizers and pesticides, according to previous federal and provincial assessments. 

In a recent report from Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), the department also attributed the frog's extirpation to climate change, but Moffatt says that runs the risk of letting governments off the hook for failing to protect habitats and prevent pollution.

"Those are fundamentally different reasons with fundamentally different policy solutions," he said. 

ECCC did not respond to CBC's requests for comment in time for publication.

A unique habitat

The Blanchard's Cricket Frog is found in several U.S. states, including Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan and Illinois. It can't climb very well, according to Hossie, so it lives in open wetlands or marshes with sandy, muddy slopes that allow it to get in and out of the water.

Because Pelee Island is the most southern part of Canada, Hossie says it has a very distinct climate, different even, than nearby mainland Ontario.

"Partly because of that, we pick up a variety of species that we have nowhere else in Canada."

That includes two types of endangered salamanders Hossie studies — the small-mouthed salamander and the Unisexual Ambystoma. 

He says these and other species in the unique region face the same threats as the frog.

Historically, Hossie says, about half the 10,000-acre island was covered in wetlands. Today, the sensitive wetlands are confined to only six per cent of the island, mostly in provincial reserves, while the rest have been converted into farmland, some of which are vineyards for growing grapes.

Jeff Hathaway, founder of Scales Nature Park, a non-profit focused on Canadian reptiles and amphibians, says now that the Blanchard's Cricket Frog is considered extirpated, the government should consider whether it can be reintroduced into the region.

"[It] would depend on how much it would cost and what the feasibility actually is," he said, adding that he personally thought it was feasible to reintroduce them into a habitat on the mainland.