| Montreal, 19/11/2002 – On 12 November 2002, the Secretariat of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation of North America (CEC) recommended to the CEC Council that a factual record be developed for the Ontario Logging submission (SEM-02-001). The submission alleges that Canada is failing to effectively enforce Section 6(a) of the Migratory Bird Regulations (MBR) adopted under the Migratory Birds Convention Act, 1994 (MBCA), in regard to logging in Ontario. Section 6(a) of the MBR makes it an offence to disturb, destroy or take a nest or egg of a migratory bird without a permit.
Sierra Legal Defence Fund filed the Ontario Logging submission with the CEC on 6 February 2002 on behalf of several Canadian and US environmental groups. The Submitters estimate that clear-cutting activity in 2001 destroyed over 85,000 migratory bird nests in central and northern Ontario forests. They allege that Environment Canada, through its Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS), has taken virtually no action to enforce section 6(a) of the MBR in regard to this logging activity.
Canada responded to the submission on 25 April 2002. Canada asserts that a factual record is not warranted because the Submitters never brought a complaint to the CWS regarding a specific violation of s. 6(a) and because no specific, documented cases are mentioned in the submission. Canada denies that it has made a sweeping policy decision not to enforce s. 6(a) with regard to logging operations. Canada claims that at this stage, prosecuting logging companies for violations of s. 6(a) would devalue the offence, because Canada is still in the process of making the logging industry aware of its obligations under s. 6(a) of the MBR through compliance promotion activities. However, Canada says it will take action, including prosecution if appropriate, if it becomes aware of specific violations of the regulations.
Canada asserts that federal wildlife law enforcement traditionally has focused on hunting and illegal import and export of wildlife and wildlife derivatives. Current national enforcement priorities for protection of migratory birds include commercial smuggling and off- and near-shore spills that result in oiled birds. Canada also asserts that Ontario forest legislation and guidelines provide for environmental protection and that the province invites federal agencies to public consultations to provide input during the development of provincial forest management plans.
The Secretariat has determined that the submission, in light of Canada's response, leaves open central questions regarding whether Canada is failing to effectively enforce s. 6(a) of the MBR in connection with logging in Ontario. The Secretariat therefore recommends that a factual record be developed to gather additional information regarding the effectiveness of CWS enforcement and compliance promotion activities in securing compliance with s. 6(a) of the MBR during logging in the forest areas mentioned in the submission. This would include information on federal involvement in the provincial forest management planning process for those areas; measures taken by forest companies and the CWS to identify nests prior to logging; measures taken to avoid nest destruction during logging; the effectiveness of those measures in preventing violations of s. 6(a) of the MBR; CWS monitoring activities; CWS responses to suspected violations; and CWS methods for establishing and balancing enforcement priorities for s. 6(a).
The CEC Secretariat informed the Council of its determination on 12 November 2002, and now, five business days later, is able to provide public notification of the determination and to place the rationale for the determination in the public registry. The full text of the submission, Canada's response and the Secretariat's factual record recommendation are available on the CEC web site, at http://www.cec.org/citizen.
Article 14 of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (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 may then proceed with a process that can lead to the development of a factual record on the matter.
The CEC was established under the 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 of Canada, Mexico and the United States.
Please visit the Citizen Submission on Enforcement Matters page for more information.
| 
