| Montreal, 4/02/2002 – By notice posted today, the Secretariat of North America's Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) is seeking information from the public for use in preparation of a factual record on Canada's alleged failure to effectively enforce the federal Fisheries Act in connection with logging in the Sooke River watershed in British Columbia. The notice has been posted on the CEC's web site <http://www.cec.org>. The Secretariat will accept information until 30 June 2002.
The alleged failure to effectively enforce the Fisheries Act was asserted in the BC Logging submission (SEM-00-004), filed on 15 March 2000, by the David Suzuki Foundation, Greenpeace Canada, Sierra Club of British Columbia, Northwest Ecosystem Alliance, and the National Resources Defense Council. The Submitters contend that Canada is systematically failing to effectively enforce sections 35(1) and 36(3) of the Fisheries Act in connection with logging operations on both public and private lands throughout British Columbia. The Submitters claim that logging operations often harm fish and fish habitat and deposit harmful sediment in fish-bearing waters, resulting in Fisheries Act violations that Canada is failing to effectively enforce. The submission cites Canada's actions in connection with TimberWest Cowichan Woodlands' logging operations in the Sooke watershed as a specific example of ineffective enforcement.
On 27 July 2001, in light of the submission and Canada's response, the Secretariat recommended that a factual record be prepared for the allegations regarding the province-wide failure to enforce the Fisheries Act effectively, as well as specific allegations relating to TimberWest's logging operations. On 16 November 2001, the Council instructed the Secretariat to prepare a factual record with regard to two specific cases involving TimberWest.
Under Article 14 of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC), the Secretariat may consider a submission from any person or nongovernmental organization asserting that a Party to NAAEC is failing to effectively enforce its environmental law. Where the Secretariat determines that the NAAEC Article 14(1) criteria are met, it may then proceed with a process that can lead to the development of a factual record on the matter. A factual record seeks to provide detailed factual information to allow interested persons to assess whether a Party has effectively enforced its environmental law with respect to the matter raised in the submission.
Under Article 15(4) and 21(1)(a) of the NAAEC, in developing a factual record, the Secretariat shall consider any information furnished by a Party and may ask a Party to provide information. The Secretariat also may consider any relevant technical, scientific or other information that is publicly available, submitted by the Joint Public Advisory Committee (JPAC) or by interested nongovernmental organizations or persons, or developed by the Secretariat or independent experts. In accordance with Article 15(7) of NAAEC, the Council may, by a two-thirds vote, make the final factual record publicly available.
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, the organization's governing body, is composed of the environment ministers (or equivalent) of Canada, Mexico and the United States.
Please visit the Citizen Submission on Enforcement Matters page for more information. |
