Let me conclude with a few final comments in light of the review.
Experience has shown it takes time to achieve recovery. The sea otter, once extirpated from Canada, was reintroduced to the west coast in 1969. Initially assessed as endangered by COSEWIC in 1978, it was downgraded to threatened and then to a species of special concern in 2007. Other long-term success stories include the whooping crane and plains bison.
Through the first five years of experience of the act, we've continued to learn and refine our practices. With resources and management structures in place, with many procedures in place as well as overall implementation policies for decision-making close to final, and with practices improving, the pace of implementation throughout the SARA cycle is now steadily improving.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.