| Montreal, 9/07/2007 – On 26 June 2007, Centro Mexicano de Derecho Ambiental A.C. and Conservación de Mamíferos Marinos de México, A.C. (the “Submitters”) presented a citizen submission to the Secretariat of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) asserting that the Canadian government is failing to effectively enforce its environmental laws with respect to the harp seal hunt that takes place in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and along the Newfoundland and Labrador coast in Canada every year in the spring.
In submission SEM-07-003 (Seal Hunting), the Submitters assert that Canada, in particular Fisheries and Oceans Canada, is failing to effectively enforce Article 2(1) of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act and the preamble to the Oceans Act by failing to apply the precautionary principle when it sets the annual harp seal hunting quota and when it allowed the quota to be exceeded in four of the past five years. The Submitters also allege that most hunters do not strictly comply with the rules prescribing instruments and methods for killing seals (Articles 28 and 29 of the Marine Mammal Regulations adopted under the federal Fisheries Act). According to the Submitters, this shows that the authorities have failed to effectively enforce these provisions and the section of the Criminal Code outlawing cruelty to animals (446.1).
The Secretariat of the CEC is analyzing the submission to determine whether it meets the requirements of Article 14 of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC).
The CEC citizen submission mechanism allows citizens to play an active "whistleblower" role in matters relating to environmental law enforcement. Pursuant to NAAEC Article 14, any citizen or nongovernmental organization may file a submission with the CEC Secretariat when it believes that a NAFTA partner is failing to effectively enforce its environmental law. After reviewing the submission, the CEC may investigate the matter and publish a factual record of its findings.
For more information, please visit the CEC's Citizen Submissions on Enforcement Matters page. |
