I understand that. That's why I'd rather move it away from the specific.
In terms of thresholds, the threshold for an assessment of a species to be determined to be at risk is developed by COSEWIC using a series of criteria that COSEWIC has based on international criteria. These are not criteria that are arbitrary; they are well understood and well utilized in the international environment. The population decline and the population threat criteria are established by COSEWIC and used by COSEWIC in its scientific assessment as to whether the species is deemed to be at risk.
The critical habitat identification is guided, at least to some degree, by the COSEWIC assessment, the COSEWIC report, but the final identification is the minister's prerogative. The work done is led by government officials to determine what is the critical habitat component, i.e., the piece that is essential for survival and recovery over the overall habitat of the species. That's very much led by government officials.
When we come to what might be a determination, that's published for public commentary. As my colleagues mentioned, in many cases it's done in very close collaboration with scientists and stakeholders as we try to determine what this is.
The delisting question has been raised a number of times. As far as I can understand the process--because we've not got there yet--it's essentially the same as the listing process. It's a change in the regulation, which would take a species off schedule 1 of SARA. Unless my colleagues have different views, I would see this as being triggered by the same process that we would use to list a species, i.e., we would need an evaluation by COSEWIC, either as part of its 10-year re-evaluation of every species, or if the committee is of the view that the population status has changed substantially and requires an earlier review.
When we get that assessment, if COSEWIC were to say, for example—and this has happened—that they have not taken them off, but have downgraded the threat status of species, that would be where the scientific assessment has said that this species is no longer at the risk level that they thought it was, and they would assess it as being less at risk. We would take that into account and that could become a delisting decision.