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An internal audit shows the federal government is doing a poor job of protecting Canada’s endangered species, and a leaked policy plan suggests it aims to do worse, a leading environment group says.
Some 516 animal, fish, bird and plant species in Canada — including the whooping crane, peregrine falcon, killer whale and sea otter — are considered at risk.
The Species at Risk Act, passed in 2003, sets out measures to help those species survive. Most important is for the government to set aside the natural habitats, with legal protection against development, that each species requires.
“We can’t protect species without protecting their habitat,” says Rachel Plotkin, of the Sierra Club of Canada, in Ottawa.
But a recent review by the Treasury Board says that’s not happening.
Hampered by lack of co-ordination, “lack of overarching federal vision,” and inadequate funding — which is to be cut by more than a third next year — “Environment Canada is struggling to meet the legislated deadlines for recovery strategies,” the review report states.
To date, 345 species have been listed as needing protection.
The government was to have the first 133 recovery plans in place by last month.
But only 21 have been posted and of those, just three identify specific areas to be protected. Two of the three are already in parks.
Meanwhile, a draft policy leaked to the Sierra Club of Canada suggests the Canadian Wildlife Service — the branch of Environment Canada that oversees the Act — is proposing changes that could make this situation worse.
A spokesperson for Environment Minister Rona Ambrose said there would be no government comment on the leaked policy.
The proposals are technical and bureaucratic, but crucial, Plotkin says.
Species are declining because of pollution, climate change and over-hunting. But the major threat is loss of their natural habitats.
`The Conservative government hasn’t made any significant commitments to protect nature.’
Rachel Plotkin, Sierra Club of Canada
The Act sets out a two-step process after species are put on the endangered list. First is a recovery strategy. It’s followed by an action plan.
The current law states that the land to be set aside must be identified in the first phase, within a deadline of one or two years, depending on the species to be protected.
As the review makes clear, those deadlines are already being ignored.
The draft policy could make this common practice, by letting identification be moved to the second phase, with no deadline, Plotkin says.
As well, the law now states social and economic impacts of setting aside land can be considered, but only in the second phase.
The initial choice is based only on scientific and environmental considerations.
The draft policy would let the social and economic impacts be part of the initial choice, increasing the chance for industries, developers or others to block protection, Plotkin says.
“Critical habitat is not being identified now, and the government is opening the door wider to people not identifying it.”
Provincial governments are often stumbling blocks to protecting habitats: In most cases, they draw up the plans for Ottawa to approve, and are reluctant to set aside protected areas.
For example, the Alberta government has refused to protect northern lands where oil and gas development is destroying the boreal forest habitat of woodland caribou. Instead, it approved what Plotkin calls a Band-aid — increased killing of wolves, which prey on caribou.
Ottawa has not objected.
The review deals mainly with the performance of the previous Liberal government, but the policy proposal suggests things won’t get better under the Conservatives, Plotkin says.
“The Conservative government hasn’t made any significant commitments to protect nature. They’re going the other way.”
The review notes federal agencies responsible for the Act have accepted the report’s recommendations, although they have promised mainly reviews.