Gov't fails to protect Canada's most iconic wildlife

May 1, 2007 - OTTAWA - The polar bear, porbeagle shark and Peary caribou could soon vanish from Canada's North if the federal government continues to ignore the recommendations by its own scientific advisory committee, says a new report by the David Suzuki Foundation.

Left off the List highlights the plight of eight threatened species denied protection under the federal Species At Risk Act (SARA), a piece of legislation designed to prevent Canadian wildlife and plants from becoming extinct. Some of these animals, however, are languishing in a never-ending process of extended consultations, the report notes.

"The fates of these animals have been exiled to bureaucratic limbo by the Environment Minister for nearly two years. The window for recovering these wildlife at risk, amid the increasing effects of global warming, is slowly closing," says report co-author and biodiversity policy analyst, Rachel Plotkin. "Extended consultation processes should have publicly available timelines to hold the government accountable for moving forward to recover these species."

Since the Act was adopted in 2003, 21 species have been denied protection despite being deemed at risk by the independent, scientific Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC). This scientific body makes recommendations about the status of species to the Minister of the Environment, who in turn makes listing recommendations to Cabinet. "But there is a growing trend where the Minister disregards COSEWIC's scientific advice and determines not to list a species based on political or economic reasons," says Ms. Plotkin.

Last week, at their annual assessment meeting, COSEWIC recommended an additional six northern species and seven marine fish for legal protection. "It's time the Minister of the Environment warms up to northern and cold blooded species," says Dr. Scott Wallace, report co-author and fisheries analyst for the Foundation. "The precedent to date suggests that the scientific recommendations for marine fish will be ignored by the government."

For northern species like the northwestern grizzly bear, western wolverine and Peary caribou, the government cites a need for extended consultation with the Nunavut government. But in many cases, these consultations were completed more than a year ago and the Minister of the Environment has yet to update the status recommendations and sufficiently protect these species at risk.

The report also notes that marine fish, such as the Atlantic cod and porbeagle shark, are almost always denied listing. The interior Fraser River coho salmon, for example, was assessed as endangered in 2002, excluded from the legal list in April 2006, and experienced the lowest returns in history in the summer of 2006.

The full report, Left of the List: A profile of marine and northern species denied listing under Canada's Species At Risk Act can be found online at: http://www.davidsuzuki.org/Conservation/Endangered_Species/Canada/Left_off_List.asp

For more information, contact:
Dr. Scott Wallace, Sustainable Fisheries Analyst, (250) 337-8521
Rachel Plotkin, Biodiversity Policy Analyst, (613) 594-9026
Jason Curran, Communications Specialist, (604) 732-4228