Government Gives Nod to Nature Conservation in Throne Speech, Budget

In last week’s Throne Speech, and then in this week’s Federal Budget release, the Federal Government made a number of promising announcements for those who love nature.

First, the Government announced it plans to “create significant new protected areas,” including a new urban national park in the Rouge Valley of eastern Toronto. Secondly, the Government pledged to “engage a broad range of stakeholders on the development of a National Conservation Plan.”

Talk of a national conservation plan is good. Conserving wildlife, wild spaces, and the environment is a complex challenge, but fortunately there are many people helping. People in Aboriginal, provincial, and territorial governments, nonprofit organizations, local clubs, landowners, businesses, industries, and others are all doing their part.

A national plan to support and coordinate these efforts would make the job of nature conservation so much more effective. I’m looking forward to working with the Federal Government on bringing the plan to fruition.

We learned a few more details from the Federal Budget – including $5.5 million over 5 years to establish Mealy Mountains National Park in Labrador. Nature Canada campaigned for over 15 years to protect the majestic Mealy Mountains region, a place characterized by wild lakes and rivers, glacier-worn mountains, subalpine plateaus, bogs and fens, marine coasts, salt-swept islands, sandspits, coastal plains and boreal forests. The establishment of this National park is great news for the Woodland Caribou, Harlequin Duck and other wildlife that call the Mealy Mountains home.

There were other commitments made in this week’s budget announcement that should benefit nature, including $5 million over 2 years to improve near-shore water and ecosystem health, and better address the presence of phosphorous in the Great Lakes, renewed funding for the Clean Air Agenda, and the ecoEnergy Retrofit Homes program.

The Green Budget Coalition (Nature Canada is a founding member and home for its Secretariat) released a scorecard this week summarizing these and other nature-related budget announcements, which you can see online.

These announcements are promising words that need to be backed up with action. Much work remains to protect and conserve nature in Canada and we at Nature Canada look forward to working with the government to ensure that happens.

Canada's Only Climate Legislation Killed in the Senate

Canada's only federal climate change legislation, the Climate Change Accountability Act, was defeated in the Senate 43 to 32 last night.

After being stalled for months, there was a surprise vote on Bill C-311 before any debate or consideration could be held in the Senate. This unprecedented action means that a Bill passed by a majority of elected MPs, representing two-thirds of Canadians, is dead.

What now?

Canada will be heading to the UN climate change negotiations in Cancun this December without a single law on the books or Bill in Parliament tackling greenhouse gas pollution. We have been assured that new climate legislation will be brought forward, but a delay of even a year or two could be devastating for species and wildlife habitats in Canada.

Nature Canada supporters have consistently raised their voices in support of strong, swift action from the government to address climate change. Our call has been heard - climate legislation has been passed in the House of Commons twice in the past two years. And although those Bills have failed to become law, any federal party opposing action on climate change must resort to parliamentary tricks to do so.

Outgoing Environment Minister Leaves Legacy, Challenges



Mara Kerry, Nature Canada director of conservation,
and Jim Prentice at the Mealy Mountains National Park Reserve
announcement in February 2010

 On the occasion of Jim Prentice's departure as Canada's Minister of the Environment, Nature Canada wishes to congratulate Mr. Prentice on his specific accomplishments and comment on the challenges his successor will face.

Nature Canada congratulates Minister Prentice for acting on his passionate support for the preservation of representative natural areas of the country. As of today, there are 42 national parks representing 28 of Canada's 39 terrestrial regions, making the system over 70 percent complete and protecting over 300,000 square kilometres of Canada's lands. During his tenure, Minister Prentice oversaw many conservation gains for Canada:

• Progress was announced on no fewer than 6 new National Parks (Mealy Mountains, Northern Bathurst Island, Nááts'ihch'oh, Thaydene Nene/East Arm of Great Slave Lake, Gulf Islands and Sable Island)
• Nahanni National Park Reserve was dramatically expanded; the government permanently protected Saoyú and Æehdacho National Historic Site of Canada on the shores of Great Bear Lake, Northwest Territories
• A Feasibility Study for National Marine Conservation Area (NMCA) in Lancaster Sound, the marine "Serengeti of the north"
• The Gwaii Haanas National Marine Conservation Area Reserve was designated around the spectacularly scenic and culturally important Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site in British Columbia. This is Canada's first official NMCA, and combined with the adjacent National Park Reserve is a world first – a contiguous area protected from mountaintop to the bottom of the sea
• Three new National Wildlife Areas (NWAs) were also established along the northeast coast of Baffin Island during Prentice's time in office, as well as Environment Canada/Canadian Wildlife Service sponsorship of six candidate NWAs in the NWT.
• Mr. Prentice also championed efforts to engage youth across the country in nature and laid the initial foundations for a longer-term initiative, My Parks Pass, that is designed to help students explore and learn about our national parks, historic sites and marine conservation areas. Nature Canada is a proud partner in this program.

Mr. Prentice's successor will face important challenges. The first will be to build on Mr. Prentice's legacy and maintaining the momentum towards completing Canada's systems of terrestrial and marine parks and protected areas. This will include following through on Canada's commitment to tri-lateral cooperation with the United States and Mexico on continental wilderness conservation.

Secondly, the next Minister of the Environment will need to improve and accelerate the federal government's performance in implementing protection for Canada's ever-more-numerous species at risk. To date Canada has recognised over 600 species as being at risk of extinction, but has approved an action plan for recovery for only one species.

Thirdly, the next minister will face the challenge of convincing their cabinet colleagues to end the federal government's inaction on climate change. This will require a tidal shift to policies that effectively reduce Canada's greenhouse gas emissions, and in particular rein in the environmental impacts of the tar sands and tame Canada's voracious energy appetite.

We wish Mr. Prentice well and we look forward to working with his successor.

Looking Deeper Into Fish Lake

  

Grizzly bears are one of the
species identified by the
Prosperity Review Panel
that would be adversely affected
by development at Fish Lake.



The government of Canada made a good decision earlier this week when it turned down a proposal for an excessively damaging mine at Fish Lake, British Columbia. Nature Canada congratulated Environment minister Jim Prentice for respecting the conclusions of the federal environmental assessment of the project, and for respecting the will of First Nations about land use in their territory. Looking deeper into the context of that decision reveals some important insights and implications.

Environmental assessment works
While the process of environmental assessment may seem mysterious from a distance, Nature Canada has been up close and personal with it many times over the years and we are convinced it works. Environmental assessment allows independent panels to consider expert testimony, reach conclusions about the likely environmental impacts of a proposed project, and identify mitigation measures that could limit the damage. The resulting recommendation to the government (and it is only a recommendation) can range from approval of the project, to approval on the condition that certain mitigation measures be required, to rejection of the project as proposed.

Politics happens
The government must then decide whether or not to accept the recommendations about the studied project, and this is where the hard facts of environmental assessment meet the vagaries of politics. The government can follow the recommendations completely, partially, or not at all. But thanks to the public nature of the assessment process, we the citizens know whether or not our government is approving projects that destroy our environment. This is where the vagaries of politics meet accountability to the voters. In the case of Fish Lake, Minister Prentice deserves credit for doing the right thing for Canada, despite pressure from within his own caucus to do otherwise.

More to come
Nature Canada is very engaged in two other environmental assessments that are awaiting a response from the federal government: proposed gas drilling in the Suffield National Wildlife Area, and the proposed Mackenzie gas project.

In the case of the Suffield NWA, the environmental assessment report concludes that the proposal to drill 1,275 gas wells would interfere with the purpose of the National Wildlife Area. It also recommends that the government complete overdue work to identify the critical habitat of species at risk, and take other conservation action even if the project does not proceed. We are hopeful that Minister Prentice will accept all of this panel's recommendations too, reject the gas drilling project, and take other actions to better protect the national wildlife area.

In the case of the Mackenzie gas project, the federal government has been accused of attempting to secretly make the panel rewrite some of its recommendations. This suggests a lack of appreciation for a key feature upon which citizens depend: the independence of environmental assessment panels. We congratulate the panel for standing up for the their independence in the interest of Canada. We hope Minister Prentice will show leadership and convince his cabinet colleagues to accept the panel's report. You can help us encourage the government to stop the Mackenzie Gas Project and to instead establish protected areas in the Mackenzie Region that will be safe from development.

Changing the rules
Parliament will soon be undertaking a review of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act. There is cause for concern, since the government already used the budget bill to weaken the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act earlier this year. You can be certain that Nature Canada will be working to ensure the review results in a stronger act, not a weaker one.

Back to the lake(s)
The decision about Fish Lake is a good news story, and we hope it does not go down in history as a rare exception. A loophole in the law that protects fish habitat, the Fisheries Act, allows the government to exclude some lakes from the protections of the act and let mining companies use lakes as dumps for toxic mining waste. A handful of lakes has been targeted so far, including Fish Lake in BC and Sandy Pond in Newfoundland and Labrador. We are concerned that this loophole threatens pristine lakes across Canada. Now that Fish Lake has been spared, it's time to take action on the others.

Climate Change Bill Continues to Collect Dust

As reported by 350.org, on Sunday, 10/10/10, citizens in 188 countries engaged in more than 7,000 organized “work parties” to cut carbon and asked their politicians a simple question, "We're getting to work, what about you?"

Well on Friday September 8, Stephen Harper and his Conservative government answered them by instructing his appointed senators to delay the country’s only federal climate bill and ordering them not to speak on the subject, even though senators had five solid months to review the legislation, and to prevent the legislation from moving forward.

The legislation in question is Bill C-311, the Climate Change Accountability Act, which was passed in the House of Commons last May by elected MPs and subsequently stalled in the Senate during the summer months. Harper’s instructions came after the prescribed five months to consider the bill. Richard Neufeld, an oil and gas sector veteran is responsible for leading the debate, however the senator has refused to acknowledged the bill, and according to Senate rules, only government can conclude debate on a bill or schedule votes.

This scenario is all too familiar, as a similar bill touching on clean energy was blocked in the US last July by the Senate and to this day there has been no vote and no change.

Support Bill C-311 by writing to your local MP and letting them know that you feel strongly about this issue. You can also join our campaign to stop the tar sands, Canada's largest contributor to climate change.

Climate Change Accountability Stalled in Senate, Faces Opposition from Chamber of Commerce

What could be more iconic than a summer road trip? Time for sun, sightseeing and… smog? That's right - we're deep into the hazy days of summer, and climate change is still on our minds.

Bill C-311, the only piece of climate change legislation currently under consideration in Canada, may be stalled in the Senate for the rest of the summer. As reported in The Globe and Mail, the Bill has been adjourned in the name of Conservative Senator Richard Neufeld and cannot move forward until he speaks to it.

The Bill was introduced in the House of Commons by NDP MP Bruce Hyer and is being supported in the Senate by Liberal Senator Grant Mitchell.

This Bill has been passed in the House of Commons not once, but twice. It was originally introduced as Bill C-377 by the NDP in 2008; the Bill died when an election was called in the Fall of 2008. In its most recent form, Bill C-311 passed third reading in the House by a majority of MPs representing almost 2/3 of the Canadian population.

In addition to the legislative delays that Bill C-311 has faced, another challenge is looming after the National Post reported that the Canadian Chamber of Commerce is calling on its members to lobby the Senate to kill the Bill. Their argument: requiring a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change is a threat to Canada's economic competitiveness.

Supporters of the Bill point out that there are many lucrative opportunities in a new green economy that can only be achieved if we take action now to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. The Bill also contains provisions to modify the ambitious targets of a 25% reduction below 1990 levels by 2020 and an 80% reduction by 2050.

Concerned Canadians have constantly raised their voices demanding strong action from our government on climate change. We recognize that if we continue down the road we're on, it's leading to a dead end.

Nature Canada hopes the Senate will pass the bill and allow Canada to start catching up!

Photo by confidence, comely/Flickr

Is a Rio 2012 Summit the Answer?

International cooperation over the last 40 years has not quite solved the long list of global environmental problems or made them any less urgent. To put it mildly.

Could going back to Rio for another Earth Summit make a difference?

Maurice Strong and Felix Dodds think so. Find out why.

And what do you think?Share your views with us bellow or at csbert@naturecanada.ca

Climate Change Bill Getting Closer!

There's a bit of good news for action on climate change in Canada.

Yesterday, the House passed Bill C-311, the Climate Change Accountability Act. Last week we asked you to help us raise awareness about yesterday's vote and your support worked!

In addition to the Bill passing to third reading, the Liberals tabled a motion for climate change action. Listen to Bruce Hyer as he introduced the bill last year or read the reaction of Climate Action Network Canada's Graham Saul for more details on what this means for climate change action in Canada.

The Bill still needs to make it through one more debate and one more vote, so we can't let our guard down, but we are a bit closer to changing course.

Climate Change Bill Faces Imminent Vote: Tell Your MP to Support It!

Remember Bill C-311, the bill that many of us were hoping would set a scientific target for Canada's commitments in Copenhagen? Well, we know how sadly Copenhagen turned out. But the Bill might still make a difference. That is, if we all contact our MPs before April 14th and ask them to support it! The situation the Bill is under is urgent and complex; best explained by the MP who introduced the Bill:

"An urgent message from Bruce Hyer, MP Thunder Bay - Superior North who introduced Bill C-311 - The Climate Change Accountability Act:

Because of a surprise procedural motion foisted upon the House of Commons by the Conservatives just as the debate on Bill C-311 was about to begin, things are drastically different from what was originally expected. The debate on the bill was cancelled, and there will now be a crucial vote in the House on April 14 that will determine its fate. It will be a simple vote: support the Climate Change Accountability Act going forward to Third Reading, or not. If the vote fails, the bill dies. Our fear is that with a procedural vote coming with so little notice, many MPs won't realize the significance of the vote...

We know the NDP and Bloc caucuses will be there on April 14 to vote in support of C-311. But many years of work on the only climate change bill in Parliament will come to an end, in obscurity, if Liberal MPs are not there in force to support it too."

For the Bill to survive, Liberal MPs must be made aware of the significance of this vote for climate change action in Canada. If this bill is defeated on April 14, the legislative process would have to start from scratch for any new legislation to ensure Canada takes significant action to reduce green house gas emissions and does its fair share to mitigate climate change. You can help Canada become part of the solution to climate change.