Environment committee  No. I think it's been known since SARA came into force that the boreal caribou was an important species to develop a recovery strategy for, so early work was undertaken, but aboriginal peoples were not engaged right from the beginning. So what we've done is to say, okay, the wo

Environment committee  I don't foresee that being a recommended option because the biology of the caribou means that it moves around on the landscape; it doesn't always live in the same part of the forest. It is a species that has adapted to forest fires, so leaving aside the impact of humans on the la

Environment committee  I'm not aware of enforcement actions yet, and it's a reflection of... As has been pointed out, there is not a lot of critical habitat that has been identified yet, but we're in train of doing so. I'm trying to explain. It's not that easy to identify it. But I do want to flag fo

Environment committee  If I may, I'll just add a couple of small points to Gilles' answer. We think of parks as the federal contribution to our protected areas network, but within my group, we also have national wildlife areas and migratory bird sanctuaries. Together, we have a land mass twice the si

Environment committee  No. This was a report that was produced by Environment Canada staff, our researchers, and they also engaged with academics and scientists from provinces and territories to develop a first cut at the scientific review for the habitat requirements for the boreal caribou.

Environment committee  I don't recall that conclusion. I don't believe that was there, but I would have to read it again. I think what was acknowledged was that when you look at the habitat needs of the boreal caribou, you see that they need large tracts of land, and it's not enough to think about, for

Environment committee  Yes.

Environment committee  We already have provisions in SARA to permit incidental take. A number of considerations must be followed before you could provide a permit. You must avoid and you must mitigate. You don't really have any other choice; this is what you have to do. Then, if that is the circumstanc

Environment committee  There is a provision in the act for regulatory authority. Regulations have not yet been developed.

Environment committee  Let me just dig it out. Section 64 of the act states: “The Minister may, in accordance with the regulations, provide fair and reasonable compensation to any person for losses suffered as a result of any extraordinary impact of the application of...”. Then it goes through a fairly

Environment committee  Yes.

Environment committee  I am unaware of any compensation related to SARA having been afforded any party.

Environment committee  I would just like to offer one point. In cases such as the one you were talking about, it brings to my mind the permitting provisions within SARA. Under section 73 and a variety of other sections in the act, “incidental take” can be permitted in certain circumstances as long as i

Environment committee  Perhaps I could start. Under SARA, as I tried to explain, there are the prohibitions that come into play, whether they're for critical habitat or the general prohibitions that protect the species themselves. The provinces have first call on those species for which they're respo

Environment committee  For an instrument to provide effective protection, it must be a legally binding instrument. Licences, regulation permits, and laws, those types of enforceable instruments, are what would be considered as to whether or not effective protection is being provided.