Opening Statement to the Standing Senate Committee on Fisheries and Oceans
Protecting Aquatic Species at Risk
(Report 7—2022 Reports of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development)
Departmental Progress in Implementing Sustainable Development Strategies—Species at Risk
(Report 9—2022 Reports of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development)
16 February 2023
Jerry V. DeMarco
Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development
Mr. Chair, thank you for this opportunity to discuss 2 recent audit reports on species at risk, which were tabled in Parliament in October 2022. I would like to acknowledge that this hearing is taking place on the traditional unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabe people. Joining me today are Milan Duvnjak and David Normand, the principals who were responsible for the audits.
Our reports on protecting aquatic species at risk and on departmental sustainable development strategies, and the associated biodiversity in Canada backgrounder, demonstrate that Canada’s biodiversity is at serious risk, with the list of endangered, threatened, and special concern species growing longer every year. Each species that we lose to extinction further upsets the delicate balance of our ecosystems and breaches our collective duty to protect and recover species at risk.
In our report on protecting aquatic species at risk, we looked at whether Fisheries and Oceans Canada, working with partners, protected selected aquatic species assessed as being at risk under the Species at Risk Act.
Overall, we found that Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s approach to protecting species assessed as being at risk contributed to significant delays in listing species for protection under the Species at Risk Act.
The department focused its knowledge-building activities primarily on species of commercial value. This left knowledge gaps for some species, which directly affected the actions needed to protect them. The department had yet to provide advice to Cabinet on whether to provide legal protection for half of all species assessed as being at risk since 2004. We found that analysis to support advice on listing species for protection was sometimes unclear and insufficient and that the department avoided listing many species if they had commercial value, such as cod.
For species that have been listed for protection, Fisheries and Oceans Canada did not have enough staff to enforce compliance with the Species at Risk Act and the Fisheries Act—the 2 main statutes for protecting aquatic biodiversity. For example, the number of staff dedicated to enforcing protections for freshwater species at risk in the department’s largest regions was low.
Gaps in knowledge about species, a bias against protecting species of commercial value under the Species at Risk Act, significant delays in listing species for protection, and limited enforcement capacity all have adverse effects on ecosystems and the communities that depend on them.
I will now turn to our annual report on departmental progress in implementing sustainable development strategies. In this audit, we looked at how Environment and Climate Change Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and Parks Canada contributed to meeting the species at risk target under the Healthy Wildlife Populations goal in the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy.
Overall, all 3 organizations identified in their individual sustainable departmental strategies the actions that they planned to take. However, it was unclear how these intended actions would support meeting the species at risk target. This is because the organizations’ plans included only some of the conservation and recovery activities needed to track and demonstrate progress.
Consistent with these gaps in departmental strategies, progress reporting by the 3 organizations on their planned actions missed some aspects of conservation and recovery activities that are needed to provide a complete picture. Measurable actions and clear reporting on progress are important for conveying to Parliament and to Canadians whether Canada is meeting its biodiversity commitments.
Reporting is important, but results are what really matter. Unfortunately, on that score, the picture is not a positive one. Over the past 8 years, results have stalled well below the target for species at risk recovery.
As noted in our biodiversity in Canada backgrounder, there is no overarching biodiversity legislation at the federal level. However, the federal government has repeatedly committed to protecting Canada’s biodiversity, with specific legislation to protect species at risk both on land and in the water. There is a patchwork of laws relating to biodiversity, including the Species at Risk Act, which was passed nearly 20 years ago. The act aims to prevent any further extinctions by protecting and recovering species at risk across Canada, whether they are of commercial value or not. Protecting nature for its own sake and for its importance to Canadians is at the heart of this legislation.
The urgent need to better address the biodiversity crisis is further recognized in the United Nations’ Global Biodiversity Framework, which was adopted in Montreal in December 2022. I am greatly concerned that as a country, we are simply not doing enough to address the loss of biodiversity. This is an issue that we have raised in many audits, most recently in these 2 reports and our biodiversity in Canada backgrounder. Halting and reversing the loss of species in decline or at risk of extinction calls for urgent action by the federal government and other jurisdictions. As time passes, the risks to these species increase and, with them, the difficulties and costs involved in their recovery. This is not a burden that should be placed on future generations.
Mr. Chair, this concludes my opening remarks. We would be pleased to answer any questions the committee may have. Thank you.