Bill C-5, Species at Risk Act

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Bill C-5, Species at Risk Act

• November 2002

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Wildlife at Risk

• Globally
• Up to 3 species lost per day
• More than 5,000 animal species, nearly 34,000
  plant species at risk
• In Canada, COSEWIC has assessed
• 402 species to be at risk or extinct
• 19 extirpated, 124 endangered, 100 threatened,
  147 special concern
• 130 plants, 74 fish, 63 mammals, 56 birds

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Who Manages Wildlife in Canada?
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Who Manages Habitat in Canada?
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Cooperation and Stewardship

• Fundamental principles
• Complex jurisdiction requires cooperation among
  federal departments, provinces and territories,
  and Aboriginal peoples
• Multiple jurisdiction for habitat requires the
  same, plus stewardship by landowners, land users,
  resource users etc.

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Three-Part Federal Strategy for Protecting
Species at Risk

• Accord for the Protection of Species at Risk
  unifies efforts of provinces, territories and
  federal government
• Canadian Endangered Species Conservation Council
  
• Stewardship and incentive programs that empower
• Canadians to take conservation actions
• SARA is key pillar in strategy

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Progress of Bill C-5

• More than 150 consultation sessions held across
  the country
• Ground-breaking involvement of Aboriginal peoples
• 40 sessions and 90 witnesses before the House
  Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable
  Development
• Nearly 50 sessions in the House of Commons

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Purpose of the Act

• To prevent wildlife species from becoming extinct
  or lost from the wild and to secure their
  recovery
• Covers all wildlife species at risk nationally,
  their critical habitats and applies to all lands
  in Canada

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Ministerial Responsibility

• Minister of the Environment lead Minister, and
  accountable for overall administration of SARA
• Specific responsibility assigned to Heritage
  Minister for species managed by the Parks Canada
  Agency, and to Minister of Fisheries and Oceans
  for aquatic species
• Minister of Environment responsible for all other
  listed species

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Species at Risk Act

• Basic Elements
• Science based species assessment
• Legal listing process
• Immediate Species Protection
• Recovery and management planning
• Stewardship measures to protect critical habitat
  with prohibition as backstop
• Effective enforcement measures

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Science-Based Species Assessment

• Gives COSEWIC legal basis
• Independent, arms length expert status
  assessments
• Assessments provided to the Minister and CESCC
  and published
• Minister must indicate response within 90 days
• GIC has 9 months to make a decision on legal
  listing or else species is listed according to
  COSEWIC assessment
• 233 species on initial legal list at Proclamation

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Immediate Species Protection

• Automatic prohibitions against killing and
  destruction of residence for endangered,
  threatened and extirpated species that are
  aquatic species, migratory birds, or on federal
  lands
• Provinces and territories given first opportunity
  to protect others.
• If not protected, safety net approach means that
  federal prohibitions may be applied
• Emergency authority to prohibit destruction of
  critical habitat of a listed species facing
  imminent threats to its survival or recovery

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Recovery and Management Planning

• Mandatory recovery strategies and action plans
  for endangered, threatened and extirpated species
• Management plans for species of special concern
• Inclusive process of development and
  implementation
• Recovery strategies and actions plans must
  address identified threats to listed species and
  identify critical habitat
• Ministerial reporting on implementation every
  five years

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Stewardship

• Conservation agreements with any government,
  organization or person for measures to
• protect species at risk and their critical
  habitats
• develop and implement recovery strategies, action
  plans and management plans
• conserve wildlife species not at risk, to prevent
  them from becoming so
• Funding agreements to help cover cost of
  conservation actions

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Critical Habitat Protection

• Critical habitat is identified in recovery
  process
• Preferred approach to protecting critical habitat
  is stewardship
• Where voluntary measures do not adequately
  protect critical habitat, each jurisdiction to
  use its legislation
• Bill guarantees protection on federal lands and
  for aquatic species
• If other critical habitat is not protected by
  other federal or provincial legislation or
  voluntary measures, authority to apply
  prohibitions under SARA as a backstop

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Compensation

• Provision for compensation
• Restricted to losses suffered as a result of any
  extraordinary or unfair impact when necessary to
  prohibit destruction of critical habitat
• Authority to provide compensation implemented
  through regulations
• Regulations must be developed.

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Project Review

• Environmental assessments for projects required
  by an Act of Parliament will have to take into
  account the projects effects on listed species
  and their critical habitats
• Measures must be taken to avoid or lessen those
  effects, and to monitor the results
• Amendment to the Canadian Environmental
  Assessment Act definition of environmental
  effect to include a listed species, its critical
  habitat or its residence as defined in SARA

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Public Involvement Citizen Action

• Open and transparent process
• Public registry for documents relating to SARA,
  including COSEWICs criteria for and assessments
  of the status of species, its status reports on
  species, and regulations and orders made under
  SARA
• A right for citizens to apply to have a species
  assessed by COSEWIC comment on proposed recovery
  strategies, action plans and management plans
  prior to their approval and apply for an
  investigation into an alleged offence under the
  Act

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Enforcement

• Approach along the same lines as other federal
  environmental legislation
• Strict liability offences
• Due diligence defence
• Higher penalties for corporations versus
  individuals and non-profit organizations
• Close cooperation with other enforcement agencies