REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE | WEDNESDAY, December 4, 2002 |
The Standing Senate Committee on Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources
has the honour to present its
THIRD REPORT
Your
Committee, to which was referred Bill C-5,
An Act respecting the protection of wildlife species at risk in Canada,
has, in obedience to the Order
of Reference of Tuesday, October 22, 2002, examined the said Bill and now
reports the same without amendment, but with observations which are appended to
this report.
Respectfully submitted,
MIRA
SPIVAK
Deputy Chair
APPENDIX
to the Third Report of the Standing Committee on
Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources
Your
Committee acknowledges the importance of this legislative initiative to protect
species at risk in this country and recognizes the decade of effort by many
parties that have brought it to fruition.
Nevertheless,
we firmly believe that passage of this legislation marks only one step in the
work that needs to be done to adequately protect species at risk in this
country. Future amendments to this
legislation should address outstanding concerns and further strengthen it.
The
legislation includes safety net provisions, under the terms of which the federal
government will only take action to protect species at risk outside of federal
lands if provincial or territorial legislation is ineffective in doing so.
Your Committee urges the federal government to ensure that this authority
is invoked in cases where the enforcement, and not just the existence, of
provincial and/or territorial legislation is deemed to offer insufficient
protection. Your Committee wishes the federal government to put adequate
resources in place to ensure effective enforcement when the safety net
provisions are invoked.
Your
Committee believes that the federal government should establish and make public
specific criteria that will be used to assess the adequacy of
provincial/territorial actions. For
example, since no province can
take steps to protect any species it has not listed, your Committee believes
that the Minister of the Environment should regard provincial failure to list a
Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) listed
species as the early warning sign of provincial/territorial inaction that should
necessitate invocation of the federal safety net provisions.
Your Committee further
recommends that, during the mandated five-year review of the legislation,
detailed scrutiny of the operation and impact of the safety net provisions be
conducted, as they are essential in ensuring the overall effectiveness of this
legislation. In particular, the
effectiveness of the legislation in protecting endangered transboundary species
should be highlighted. In addition, your Committee recommends that at least two
further five-year reviews be conducted.
In Bill C-5, the exercise of federal authority by the
Governor-in-Council is discretionary when, in the opinion of the Environment
Minister a species is not adequately protected by a province or territory.
Your Committee recommends that, during the mandatory five-year review of
this legislation consideration be given to making this a mandatory undertaking.
Bill C-5
provides for automatic listing (listing not subject to review by the
Governor-in-Council) of species set out in Schedule 1 on the day that this
legislation comes into force. As it stands, Schedule 1 only includes species
assessed or reassessed by COSEWIC up to November 2001. It does not include the
31 species reassessed by COSEWIC in May 2002, the two species that were
emergency listed in October 2002 or the 17 species reassessed in November 2002
(see attached list for greater certainty).
Your Committee expects the Minister to add these species to Schedule 1
immediately upon proclamation of the legislation.
Your Committee believes that the government has a moral obligation to
ensure that those who suffer economic losses from a prohibition on
killing/harvesting an endangered species receive the same consideration with
regard to compensation, as do those who suffer a loss as a result of having to
protect the critical habitat of such a species.
With
regard to compensation your Committee expects that the regulations developed to
implement these provision of the legislation will encompass the following four
principles:
1.
Fair market value should be a starting point of the measure of
compensation.
2.
Monetary compensation may not always be the most appropriate form of
compensation and other forms may be made available.
3.
It is possible that the implementation of this legislation could cause a
major disruption to a person’s livelihood and reduction in their net worth.
Consequently, no artificial limits should be placed on
compensation.
4. Completing due diligence should not be a debilitating burden on farmers and other groups. The government must set out details of what tasks will satisfy due diligence requirements and take steps to ensure that the time and cost be fully compensated.
Your
Committee recommends that either during the mandatory five-year review or
earlier if deemed necessary, the government also review experience gained in the
intervening years and consider the advisability of the following changes:
1.
Add measures to ensure interim protection of critical habitat;
2.
Introduce timelines for the completion of Action Plans;
3.
Extend mandatory protection to transboundary species and their critical
habitat;
4.
Extend the scope of the legislation to prohibit the killing of a species
at risk or destruction of its critical habitat everywhere in Canada.
Your
Committee reminds the government that it already has responsibility for the
protection of critical habitat for migratory birds under the Migratory Birds
Convention Act and that responsibility must not be limited by this Act.
Your Committee requests that the Minister of Environment meet with the
Committee one year from the tabling of this report to discuss progress on
recommendations made herein.
ATTACHMENT
31
Species reassessed at May 2002 COSEWIC meeting using new criteria
Endangered
Blue
Whale Atlantic population balaenoptera
musculus
Blue
Whale Pacific population balaenoptera
musculus
Screech-owl
macfarlanei subspecies,
Western otus kenniicottii macfarlanei
Blue
Racer coluber constrictor
foxii
Coho
Salmon, Interior Fraser population oncorhynchus
kisutch
Yucca
Moth tegeticula
yuccassella
Bird’s-foot
Violet viola pedata
Boreal
Felt Lichen Atlantic population
erioderma pedicellatum
Threatened
Grey
Fox urocyon
cinereoargenteus
Northern
Ribbonsnake thamnophis
sauritus
Great
Basin Gophersnake pituophis
catenifer deserticola
Stinkpot
sternotherus odoratus
Eastern
Spiny Softshell Turtle apalone
spinefera
Channel
Darter percina copelandi
Crooked-stem
Aster symphyotrichum
penanthoides
Lakeside
Daisy hymenoxys herbacea
Wild
Hyacinth camassia
scilloides
Climbing
Prairie Rose rosa setigera
Special Concern
Grizzly
Bear ursus arctos
Woodland
Caribou Northern Mountain population rangifer tarandus caribou
Screech-owl
kennicottii subspecies, Western otus kenniicottii macfarlanei
Eastern Milksnake lampropeltis
triangulum
Northern Ribbonsnake Great
Lakes population thamnophis
sauritus
Western Skink eumeces
skiltonianus
Northern
Map Turtle graptemys geographica
Northern
Red-legged Frog rana aurora
Spring Salamander gyrinophiluls
porphyriticus
Great
Plains Toad bufo cognatus
Tuberous
Indian-plantain arnoglossum plantagineum
Athabasca Thrift armeria
maritime ssp. interior
Boreal Felt Lichen Boreal
population erioderma pedicellatum
2
Species emergency listed in endangered category by COSEWIC October 2002
Sockeye
salmon Cultus Lake population Oncorhynchus
nerka
Sockeye
salmon Sakinaw Lake population Oncorhynchus
nerka
17
Species reassessed at COSEWIC’s November 2002 meeting
Endangered
Northern
Bottlenose Whale (Scotian Shelf population)
hyperoodon ampullatus
Salish
sucker catostomus sp. Salvelinus
fontinallis timagamienis
Benthic
Enos Lake Stickleback gasterosteus
spp.
Limnetic
Enos Lake Stickleback gasterosteus
spp.
Pugnose
Shiner notropis anogenus
Northern
Madtom noturus stigmosus
Speckled
Dace rhinichthys osculus
Small-flowered
Lipocarpha lipocarpha micrantha
Small-flowered
Sand-verbena tripterocalyx
micanthus
Threatened
Eastern
Massasauga Rattlesnake sistrusrus
catenatus catenatus
Common
Hop Tree
White
Wood Aster eurybia divaricata
(aster divaricatus)
Van
Brunt’s Jacob ‘s Ladder polemonium
vanbruntiae
Western
spiderwort tradescantia
occidentalis
Special Concern
Polar
Bear ursus maritimus
Long-billed
Curlew numenius americanus
Northern
Leopard Frog Prairie population rana
pipiens