| Montreal, 25/07/2000 – The Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) has received a response
from the Canadian government regarding a citizen submission filed by the David
Suzuki Foundation, et al. In its submission (SEM-00-004),
tendered under Article
14 of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC),
the Suzuki Foundation alleges that the Government of Canada has failed to
effectively enforce sections of its Fisheries Act, with harmful
consequences for fish habitat in British Columbia stemming from logging on
private lands in that province.
The Canadian government responded that it had found only three documented
assertions in the submission of alleged failures to effectively enforce the Fisheries
Act. The allegations refer to TimberWest's logging operations on privately
managed forest lands at three sites in the Sooke watershed of British Columbia:
1) Sooke River; 2) Martins Gulch; and 3) De Mamiel Creek. (Canada assumes that
the reference in the submission to "TimberWest" is a reference to
TimberWest Cowichan Woodlands.) Canada's response to the three documented
assertions is as follows:
- Sooke River: Canada describes enforcement action taken
starting March 1999 and that Fisheries and Oceans Canada had observed that no
blowdown (wind-caused tree loss) had occurred during the 1999/2000 winter
season, and that there has been no harmful impact on fish habitat at the site.
- Martins Gulch: Canada asserts that Fisheries and Oceans
Canada staff reinspected the site and confirmed that it does not appear that
fish habitat had been damaged and that the site is considered a low risk for
future impacts. The Response concludes that no further site inspection is
required.
- De Mamiel Creek: Canada states that the logging that
took place at Otter Point Road is being investigated as a potential offense
under the Fisheries Act. Canada says it can not comment due to the
ongoing investigation and that it would therefore also be inappropriate for the
CEC Secretariat to proceed further with the Otter Point Road matter.
Article 14 of the NAAEC provides that the CEC Secretariat may consider a
submission from any person or nongovernmental organization asserting that a
Party to the NAAEC is failing to effectively enforce an environmental law.
Where the Secretariat determines that the NAAEC Article 14(1) criteria are
met, it shall then determine whether the submission merits requesting a
response from the Party named in the submission. If the Secretariat considers
that the submission, in light of any response provided by that Party, warrants
the development of a factual record, the Secretariat may so inform the Council,
in accordance with Article 15. The Secretariat shall prepare a factual record
if the Council, by a two-thirds vote, instructs it to do so. Publication of the
resulting factual record also requires a two-thirds vote by Council.
The CEC was established under NAAEC to address environmental issues in North
America from a continental perspective, with a particular focus on those
arising in the context of liberalized trade. The CEC Council is composed of the
environment ministers or the equivalent of Canada, Mexico and the United
States.
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