| Montreal, 12/12/2006 – On 11 December 2006, the Secretariat of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) issued a determination requesting a response from Canada to submission SEM-06-005 (Species at Risk), filed with the Secretariat on 10 October 2006, by the Sierra Legal Defence Fund on behalf of Nature Canada, Sierra Club (US and Canada), Conservation Northwest, David Suzuki Foundation, Environmental Defence, ForestEthics, Ontario Nature, Western Canada Wilderness Committee, BC Nature (formerly Federation of BC Naturalists), Federation of Alberta Naturalists, Natural History Society of Newfoundland and Labrador, Nature Nova Scotia, and Nature Quebec (the “Submitters”). The Submitters allege that Canada is failing to effectively enforce the federal Species at Risk Act (SARA) as regards listing species for protection under the Act (s. 27); meeting deadlines for issuing recovery strategies (s. 42) and ensuring that those strategies identify the species’ critical habitats (s. 41); and extending the application of the Act to those provinces whose laws do not effectively protect a species or the residences of its individuals (s. 34), as well as to species that face an imminent threat to their survival or recovery (s. 80).
Canada has up to 60 days to provide its response. Thereafter, the Secretariat will review the submission in light of Canada’s response to determine whether it warrants developing a factual record.
For more information, please visit the Citizen Submissions on Enforcement Matters page. |
