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- 
     
    
   
   
    
     AD TTS tee aoe atten genre 
     
    
   
   
    
     positions are limited! 
     
     A Federal Pubic Sector Youth internship Program 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     tion. 
     
    

    
     “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.”