Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Edmonton Strathcona for her interest in this matter.
Our government is deeply committed to conserving Canada’s biodiversity and to maintaining and improving our species at risk protection and recovery.
As everyone knows, the boreal caribou is a priority for this government. We are committed to effectively upholding our legal obligations under the Species at Risk Act and ensuring compliance with all federal laws.
In July 2017, the federal government released a proposed action plan for the boreal caribou. The action plan sets out the federal government’s plan to work with partners and stakeholders to support the recovery and protection of the boreal caribou. That plan includes actions and investments to further research and science to support recovery; recovering and protecting caribou through conservation agreements with other governments and regulations on federal lands; and reporting our progress to Canadians.
The provinces and territories also have a great responsibility to manage land, natural resources, and wildlife, and protect species at risk that live within their jurisdiction. The 2012 recovery strategy for boreal caribou, which was produced by federal, provincial, and territorial governments, recognized that the vast majority of critical habitat is on provincial and territorial land. The recovery strategy therefore included a five-year deadline for provinces and territories to provide the federal government with protection plans on a range-by-range basis for boreal caribou.
In October 2017, we also published a five-year progress report on the boreal caribou, which gave an overview of the progress made in achieving the objectives of the recovery strategy and reported on the status of the caribou populations and the disturbance to their habitat. As of October 2017, every province and territory was still working on developing their range-by-range protection plan.
The department will perform an official analysis of the measures that the provinces and territories have taken to protect critical habitat for woodland caribou, as well as any gaps in critical habitat protection, and will report to Canadians in April 2018. If the April report shows that the provinces and territories are failing to implement adequate protection measures, federal legislation requires our government to recommend that federal protection be applied to non-federal lands. We are currently in discussions with several provinces and territories regarding conservation agreements that could expedite and support their efforts to complete their range plans, in close consultation with indigenous groups and key stakeholders.
Among other things, we are also working on creating a multilateral forum to incorporate new knowledge and scientific data into woodland caribou conservation and recovery efforts. The national boreal caribou knowledge consortium will give the government, indigenous peoples, stakeholders, and scientists a forum where they can share information and lessons learned on a regular basis.
Ultimately, the success of the efforts to restore the caribou population and ensure its long-term prosperity depends on the willingness of all parties to work together to find innovative scientific solutions.
Our government believes we must seize the opportunity to restore the woodland caribou population and promote the prosperous and sustainable use of Canada's natural resources.