What It's About

A New Species at Risk Act -- Your Chance for Input
The Federal Government has introduced into Parliament its Species at Risk Act, known as Bill C-5 (Bill C-5 is almost identical to the earlier Bill C-33 introduced last fall). Bill C-5 is expected to receive Parliamentary approval this year. Before this approval is given, Canadians have the opportunity to express their views about the proposed Act and influence its final wording.

The Information You Need
This site provides background about Bill C-5, what it means to BC, how the Bill should be improved and what interested British Columbians can do.

BC Industry Supports Efforts to Protect Species at Risk
The BC forest industry supports protecting species at risk, commends the federal government and other stakeholders for their efforts in developing the proposed Act and wishes to see the Act receive Parliamentary approval this year.

What It Means to BC

Few Species are at Risk in BC’s Working Forests but the Risks are Significant
Of the more than 360 species considered at risk in Canada, about 54 of these are in the country’s working forests. Of these 54, 31 are ranked as “species of concern”, the lowest risk category on the list, while 23 are ranked as threatened or endangered, which are the higher risk categories. 

Of the 54 species at risk in Canada’s working forests, 26 are located in BC. Of these 26, 12 are ranked as threatened or endangered. Thus, BC’s working forests are home to about 7% of the country’s species at risk but 46% of these species are in the higher risk categories.

Causes, Cures and Costs
Not all forest dwelling species at risk are in that condition due to forestry operations. Elimination of forest habitat for roads, other rights of way, settlement and agriculture as well as hunting, predators and other pressures are all contributing causes.

Considerable efforts are already underway to protect these BC species. Establishing protected areas, land use planning outside protected areas and regulating forest practices in the working forests are three key components of these efforts.

BC’s existing efforts to protect forest species at risk are expected to reduce the province’s timber harvest by almost 6%. 

Despite the work already done, the impact on BC of protecting 11 of the 26 species still at risk in the province’s working forests could be significant. The provincial government estimates that additional action under the new Federal Species at Risk Act to protect 4 of the 11 species could reduce timber harvests by an additional 6%. This additional reduction could translate into more than 20,000 lost jobs and about $300 million in lost government revenue.

Special Effort is Needed to Minimize Potential Adverse Impacts 
The BC forest industry believes this extent of adverse impact is not inevitable. However, minimizing impacts can be achieved only with a thoughtful approach. Previous regulatory approaches, including the BC Forest Practices Code, where little priority was given to minimizing impacts before implementation, will not work. The starting point for a more thoughtful approach is the Act itself.

What Improvements to the Bill are Needed

The Principles
The industry believes Canadians want the Act to follow three key principles:

1. Deliver Balance: the Act should balance the needs of species at risk with the social and economic needs of people, communities and businesses.
   
   
2. Provide Fair and Reasonable Processes: the Act should establish a reasonable approach to identify species at risk, determine how to protect and recover these species and manage the impacts of these actions on individuals and society. 
   
   
3. Promote Partnership: the Act should emphasize a co-operative and partnership approach, which is more likely to advance the protection of species while minimizing adverse impacts on Canadians than a unilateral command and control regulatory approach.

Although many parts of Bill C-5 reflect these principles, some key areas do not.

SARA: Finding the Balance

1. Purposes: the Purposes section of the Bill properly emphasizes the need to protect species at risk, but makes no mention of balancing this need with the socio-economic needs of Canadians. The industry is recommending that the Purpose section be amended to reflect both needs.
   
   
2. Recovery Strategy: the Bill properly requires recovery strategies to be prepared for species at risk, yet does not require socio-economic considerations to be included in the strategy. The industry is recommending that the Bill be amended to include this requirement.
   
   
3. Compensation: as some decisions under the Bill will impair property and other legal rights, the Bill contains a compensation clause. The government is to be commended for including such a provision. Unfortunately, as currently drafted, the provision is discretionary and places extraordinary limits on the circumstances in which it might be paid. The industry is recommending a compensation provision more in line with typical expropriation legislation in Canada.

For More Information