ENVI Committee Report

SUPPLEMENTARY OPINION

Liberal Party of Canada on the Report of Urban Conservation Practices in Canada

All parties have agreed to the report. After all, the majority of Canadians would, no doubt, agree to: ensuring the importance of interacting with nature, and that this should be reflected in the government’s conversation plan; and the government’s ensuring the development of a holistic approach to urban conservation, partnerships, and information sharing amongst stakeholders.

However, the Liberal Party is disappointed with the methodology undertaken for the report, that the resulting report is watered-down and lacking in strong recommendations, such as leadership, goals, targets, and funding. It is important to note, for example, that the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada has listed 668 wildlife species, including 297 endangered, 159 threatened, 190 of special concern, and 22 extirpated (meaning they are no longer found in the wild). It is therefore disappointing that benchmarks were not specified in the report, but rather “appropriate benchmarks” leaving considerable discretion. Moreover, controversial subjects, which require real discussion, such as the study area, the principles guiding the management plan, and the role of agriculture in the Rouge Park, were dropped from the report.

The Liberal Party is particularly concerned regarding the lack of mention of several witnesses’ expression of concern regarding recent changes to federal environmental legislation, and more particularly, the Fisheries Act. The Liberal Party agrees with their concerns, as expressed in its Dissenting Report for Bill C-38, Part 3. The party’s recommendations included that: the environment sections of Bill C-38 be removed; the government engage in regulatory overhaul for environmental laws that respect constitutionally protected Aboriginal Title, Rights and Treaty Rights, with appropriate engagement across the country; the government table in the House of Commons what types of projects will be included/excluded under the proposed changes to CEAA, and specifically, the proportion and types of current assessments that will no longer receive federal oversight; the government table in the House of Commons assessments of the environmental assessment process in each province and territory, how the government will define whether or not a provincial process is equivalent to the federal process, and how assessment of cumulative impacts will be undertaken; the government protect fish and fish habitat, not erode 144 years of history, and that the Department develop new fisheries act policies and regulations in collaboration with all stakeholders; and the government define which fish will fall under Aboriginal, commercial, and recreational fisheries, and the criteria used.