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Failure to Protect: Grading Canada's Species at Risk Laws
In light of the federal government’s announcement that it intends to amend the Species at Risk Act (SARA) to make it more “effective,” Ecojustice took a closer look at Canada’s endangered species legislation to evaluate the strength of existing laws and how well they are working.
Read the full report now!
In light of the federal government’s announcement that it intends to amend the Species at Risk Act (SARA) to make it more “effective,” Ecojustice took a closer look at Canada’s endangered species legislation to evaluate the strength of existing laws and how well they are working. The end result? A new report, Failure to Protect: Grading Canada's Species at Risk Laws.
Our findings make it clear that Canada's governments have much room for improvement. Across the board, Canada's governments have failed to create and implement the tools they need to protect endangered species and the habitat they need to survive and recover. No jurisdiction received a mark higher than a C.
The federal government's poor performance is particularly unsettling. The federal Species at Risk Act is one of the country's most modern species laws and it has all the necessary tools to help species survive and recover, but the federal government's efforts to implement its own law have been characterized by chronic, unlawful delays in producing recovery strategies, identifying critical habitats and protecting those habitats from harm. Here, the problem is not the law, but how the federal governments is (or isn't) implementing it.
See the 'Save our Species' campaign page
But as this report explains, saving Canada’s wildlife doesn’t have to be complicated. There are four cornerstones of strong species legislation that can give vulnerable species a reasonable chance at surviving and recovering:
- Identify species that need help
- Don’t kill them
- Give them a home
- Help them recover
