Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise to speak at second reading to Bill C-33, the Species at Risk Act.
Before starting my remarks, I would like to briefly put the bill in context. Biodiversity as a whole is the result of the evolution of the earth over 4.5 billion years. This evolutionary process created a wide selection of living organisms and natural environments on our planet. Together they form the ecosystems we know today, and each one plays a specific role in the food chain and contributes to the biological balance of the planet.
However, for some years, scientists have been warning about the disappearance of certain species in increasing numbers, as well as the rise in the number of species facing extinction or extremely vulnerable species.
The decrease or degradation of the biological diversity concerns us all and could have unpredictable consequences for our environment. Over the past few years, in Canada, as elsewhere in the world, efforts have been undertaken to try to slow down this process. Starting in the 1970s, international conventions were signed limiting the trade of certain animal and vegetal species in order to protect them from extinction.
Cases in point include the 1971 Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as a Waterfowl Habitat, better known as the RAMSAR Convention. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, more commonly known as CITES, was signed in 1973. In 1979, there was the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals.
In 1992, at the Rio summit—