Category: Protection of Species Page 4 of 9

By: Dave Poulton

PDF Version: Disappointment at the Bank: The Fish Habitat Banking Provisions of Bill C-68

Legislation Commented On: Bill C-68: An Act to amend the Fisheries Act and other Acts in consequence

Over the past weeks several ABlawg contributors have posted their summaries and commentary on the suite of environmental assessment and protection legislation introduced by the federal government in the form of Bills C-68 and C-69. The series started with Martin Olszynski’s overview of the two pieces of legislation, to which readers are referred for background to my contribution.

The purpose of this post is to examine fish habitat banking, a fisheries management tool that for the first time stands to be legislated through the amendments to the Fisheries Act, RSC 1985, c F-14 found in Bill C-68. Habitat banking is a mechanism to enable the provision of habitat “offsetting”. To understand habitat banking, therefore, it is necessary to start with the concept of offsetting.

Asking the Right Questions about Amendments to the Fisheries Act

By Martin Olszynski

On April 16, 2018

In Environmental, Fisheries Regulation, Protection of Species

By: Martin Olszynski, Brett Favaro and Nicolas Lapointe

PDF Version: Asking the Right Questions about Amendments to the Fisheries Act

Legislation Commented On: Bill C-68, An Act to Amend the Fisheries Act

On February 5, 2018, the federal government tabled Bill C-68, An Act to Amend the Fisheries Act. This Bill is the product of roughly two years of study and public consultation by both the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans (FOPO) and Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) – study and consultation that was promised by the then-opposition Liberals during the last federal election campaign. That promise was itself a response to the previous Conservative government’s changes to the Fisheries Act, RSC 1985, c F-14, as part of its overhaul of the federal environmental regime back in 2012. With respect to the Fisheries Act specifically, the previous government took direct aim at the habitat protection provisions of that legislation (section 35). While some of the changes were positive, such as broadening protection to include not just “works and undertakings” but also “activities”, most of them were widely panned (see e.g. here, here, here, here, here, and here). Whereas the original prohibition protected all fish and fish habitat, post-2012 only those fish (and their habitat) that were part of, or supported, a commercial, recreational or Aboriginal fishery are protected. The level of protection has also been reduced: whereas the previous version of section 35 protected against “harmful alterations, disruption, or destruction” of fish habitat, the 2012 version only protects against the “permanent alteration or destruction” of fish habitat.

Alberta Suspends Habitat Protection Plans for Endangered Woodland Caribou

By Shaun Fluker

On March 23, 2018

In Protection of Species

By: Shaun Fluker

PDF Version: Alberta Suspends Habitat Protection Plans for Endangered Woodland Caribou

Case Commented On: Minister of Environment and Parks March 19, 2018 Letter re: Alberta Draft Woodland Caribou Range Plan

On March 19 the Minister of Environment and Parks issued a letter stating Alberta is suspending plans to designate additional protected areas for endangered caribou habitat to allow for a further review of the socio-economic costs associated with implementing Alberta’s draft Woodland Caribou Range Plan. The Minister indicates this decision is in response to concerns raised in community consultations (see here) about the economic impacts of the proposed caribou protection and recovery measures in the Plan. There is also a not-so-subtle message from the Minister that if the federal government wants to see action on the caribou file, there needs to be a significant infusion of federal cash. However, the overall message here is the abdication of responsibility for protection and recovery of caribou. My intention in writing this short comment is to highlight where the Minister places an incorrect gloss on the law to conceal this failure to act.

Towards Normative Coherence in the International Law of the Sea for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction

By Anna-Maria Hubert

On February 1, 2018

In Law of the Sea, Protection of Spaces, Protection of Species

By: Anna-Maria Hubert and Neil Craik

PDF Version: Towards Normative Coherence in the International Law of the Sea for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction

Document Commented On: International legally binding instrument under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction, A/RES/72/249, provisionally available as document A/72/L.7

This past November, based on the recommendations of the Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) established under General Assembly Resolution 69/292, the UN General Assembly agreed in Resolution 72/249 to convene an intergovernmental conference “to consider the recommendations of the preparatory committee on the elements and to elaborate the text of an international legally binding instrument under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction, with a view to developing the instrument as soon as possible” (para 1).

Alberta Releases Draft Woodland Caribou Range Plan: Pie in the Sky

By Shaun Fluker

On January 29, 2018

In Protection of Species

By: Shaun Fluker

PDF Version: Alberta Releases Draft Woodland Caribou Range Plan: Pie in the Sky

Matter Commented On: Alberta Draft Woodland Caribou Range Plan

In late December, Alberta issued its draft Woodland Caribou Range Plan. The Government is seeking public input on the content of this Caribou Range Plan, and is hosting several in-person community sessions over the next couple of months. For more detail on how to submit your comments or attend one of the face-to-face sessions, see here. The Caribou Range Plan has been issued by Alberta in response to the federal Woodland Caribou Recovery Strategy issued in 2012 pursuant to the Species at Risk Act, SC 2002 c 29. The federal Recovery Strategy called upon the provinces to develop range plans by October 2017 to demonstrate how they will protect caribou habitat in their respective jurisdictions. The primary reason for why a federal strategy would rely on provincial action to meet its objectives is because the majority of caribou habitat in Alberta falls on provincial lands, and SARA has very little application on provincial lands. This comment explores the legal framework for the Caribou Range Plan and the content in the draft.