Environment committee  I think it's important to remember that a disproportionate burden has fallen onto some first nations land because of lack of protection of these same species on provincial land outside first nations land. I realize that provincial land is also first nations land in many ways, but I think proper implementation of the safety net, if necessary, and ideally of adequate provincial protections on the part of provinces dealing with these species is going to take some of that disproportionate burden off first nations land and create a situation in which SARA may be more workable.

Environment committee  Speaking as a biologist, I would just add that from a biological perspective, the tension here is that the longer you wait for consultation—of course consultation is important, in particular with first nations—the more you lose your opportunities, the more you endanger your species, and the more costly and difficult it is to end up recovering it.

Environment committee  Perhaps I could respond to that. This touches on one of our more important recommendations, which is the composition of recovery teams. We have a situation right now where recovery teams exist inconsistently. What that means is that some species have a team of experts who assist the government in planning for them, and some don't.

Environment committee  I would like to comment on that, thank you. I think a really important thing to remember--I also learned about the 12% model in university--is that, among many things that have changed in our scientific understanding, that's one of them. What scientists are now telling us in light of things like climate change is that 12% is going to be woefully inadequate.

Environment committee  I think it's the application in this case. The act allows us to identify critical habitat for the caribou. The act requires, or at least allows, the federal government to step in if provincial governments with caribou critical habitat under their jurisdiction cannot provide effective legal protection that prevents destruction of that habitat.

Environment committee  I think there has been progress. We have an excellent scientific report identifying the critical habitat of the boreal caribou. Unfortunately, that report did not turn into a final recovery strategy and a legal identification of critical habitat. Further science is being developed all the time, so there's definitely been progress.

Environment committee  Thank you, Keith. What I would say about the protection of critical habitat for caribou, first and foremost, is that the federal government has delayed beyond the legal deadline in identifying its critical habitat, and so we're watching this species decline precipitously in some areas in the absence of identification of critical habitat.