The Cadre -

17 March 1998

Endangered species legislation

Provincial and federal government present new Dill

BY TODD MACLEAN

Both the federal and the PEI provincial governments will be presenting endangered species legislation next month.

PEI’s bill is into its third and final reading, and will most likely be passed. The federal government is reintroducing a revised bill from last year’s legislation, however, and thus it remains to be seen if this new bill will more effectively meet the needs of Canada’s species at risk.

Lori MacAdam, a fourth year Environmental Science student at Carleton Univer- sity, is currently working on a campaign involving all cam- puses across the country to allow students a chance to voice their opinions on endan- gered species before the fed- eral legislation comes about in

April.

Some of the plans of ac- tion in the campaign include the organization of a "23 sec- onds of silence” for Canada’s 23 extinct and extirpated spe- cies; public rallies and debates on the topic of endangered species; a letter writing cam- paign to the Minister of the Environment; and the signing of a petition that is being circu- lated among campuses.

Allofthisis being done in order to generate enough pub- lic pressure and input for the federal government to present a strong and effective national legislation.

Kate MacQuarrie, a member of Island Nature Trust, sat on the task force to advise the federal legislation last year, and said that a lot of people had many problems with it.

“If the new national leg- islation has the same negative attitude towards private land- owners as the last one, then it probably will not go through,” MacQuarrie said. “But if they

take into consideration the rights and Privileges of land-

owners affected by endan- gered species, then it will be passed.”

MacQuarrie also said that both the national and pro- vincial legislations, if passed as laws, are expected to be very complimentary to one another. The federal one will only have jurisdiction over spe- cies which cross borders, while the provincial one can concen- trate on species that are native to that particular province.

“twill involve formal pro-

tection to make it illegal to harass, harm, kill, etc. the par- ticular species, and it will also emphasize protection of habi- tat,” she added

Art Smith, Director of Fish and Wildlife, said that there have been protection programs in the past, but now it is time to have some legislation to back things up.

“Provincially, it will give us the ability to formally recog- nize endangered species,” he said. “It will provide financial

assistance, giving us the ability to afford protection, and it will also promote co-operation amongst people dealing with threatened species.”

The proposal will be brought back to the provincial legislature's next sitting, and thus is expected to be passed. In the meantime, however, at- tempts will be made to gener- ate public support for MacAdam's national cam- paign for the federal legisla-

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“We will be circulating the petitions and information pages around campus over the next couple of weeks,” said Jamy-Ellen Proud, VP Inter- nal of UPEI Student Union. “It’s great that a single student took this much time to put it all together. It’s a big time com- mitment on her part, and so hopefully there will be a lot of awareness generated for this campaign.”