| Montreal, 4/04/2005 – On 1 April 2005, the Council of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation of North America (CEC) voted unanimously to instruct the CEC Secretariat to join submission SEM-04-006 (Ontario Logging II) and submission SEM-02-001 (Ontario Logging) for the purpose of developing one, consolidated factual record on allegations that Canada is failing to effectively enforce s. 6(a) of the Migratory Bird Regulations (MBR) adopted under the Migratory Birds Convention Act, 1994, in regard to clearcut logging carried out in 2001 in 53 forest management units (FMUs) of central and northern Ontario. S. 6(a) of the MBR makes it an offense to disturb, destroy or take a nest or egg of a migratory bird without a permit.
The Ontario Logging submission was filed with the Secretariat in February 2002 by Canadian Nature Federation, Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, Earthroots, Federation of Ontario Naturalists, Great Lakes United, Sierra Club (United States and Canada), and Wildlands League (together, the Submitters), represented by Sierra Legal Defence Fund. The Submitters alleged that over 85,000 migratory bird nests were destroyed in 59 Ontario FMUs in 2001 in violation of s. 6(a) of the MBR without any enforcement action being taken. On 12 November 2002, the Secretariat recommended preparation of a factual record. On 22 April 2003, the CEC Council gave the Submitters 120 days to provide the Secretariat with additional information in support of their allegations. The Submitters provided the Secretariat with harvest data for 49 FMUs (including four that were merged with other FMUs) within the 120-day time limit (an additional FMU lost its license), and they revised their estimate of nests destroyed to 44,000 nests. On 12 March 2004, after the Secretariat again recommended a factual record, the Council instructed the Secretariat to prepare a factual record regarding enforcement of s. 6(a) of the MBR in the 49 FMUs for which the Submitters were able to obtain additional information.
The Submitters filed Ontario Logging II with the Secretariat on 12 October 2004, providing 2001 harvest information for the four remaining FMUs: Cochrane, Shiningtree, Temagami and Wawa. On 17 December 2004, the Secretariat recommended to the Council preparation of a factual record for the Ontario Logging II submission, to be consolidated with the Ontario Logging factual record. On 1 April 2005, in Council Resolution 05-04, the Council directed the Secretariat to prepare a consolidated factual record and to provide the Parties with an opportunity to comment on an amended overall work plan for the consolidated factual record. The Amended Overall Plan was sent to the Parties today.
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 (Canada, Mexico, United States) is failing to effectively enforce its environmental law. The submissions process can lead to the development of a factual record. A factual record seeks to provide detailed factual information allowing interested persons to assess whether a Party is failing to effectively enforce its environmental law in connection with the matter raised in the submission. In accordance with Article 15(7) of NAAEC, the CEC Council may, by a two-thirds vote, make the final factual record publicly available.
The CEC was established under NAAEC in 1994 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 top environmental officials of Canada, Mexico and the United States.
Please visit the Citizen Submissions on Enforcement Matters page for more information.
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