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House Hansard - 152

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 2, 2023 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 152 - Feb/2/23
Mr. Richard Cannings (South Okanagan—West Kootenay, NDP)
  • Feb/2/23 6:40:06 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the debate this evening stems from a question I asked the Minister of Environment back in early December, just after the Wild Species 2022 report was released and just before the COP15 biodiversity summit was held in Montreal. The Wild Species 2022 report covers the status of over 50,000 species across the country. It is the fifth in a series published every five years since the year 2000. That report found that over 2,000 of these species are at risk of being lost in Canada. Over 100 of the species are found only in Canada and are at risk of extinction. Bird populations are collapsing at very worrisome rates in North America and now are over 30% below the levels they were 50 years ago. That represents a loss of about three billion birds. This loss of biodiversity is a huge strike to our environment, our ecosystems and our food supply. I pointed out to the minister that the Liberals have made almost no progress on their promises to protect 30% of our natural lands by 2030. Right now only about 12% of Canada's land and water habitats are protected, and we rank 128th in the world in that regard, behind the United States, and well behind countries such as Australia and New Zealand. I specifically asked whether the government will introduce a biodiversity accountability bill to make sure we reach those critical targets. I will say off the top that I am happy that the minister made a commitment to do this at COP15 in Montreal, but I would like to spend some time outlining why we need to do it and what we need to do. First of all, we need accountability. We have seen the progress made since the Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act. We need a similar legislative framework to make sure we are protecting our biodiversity. We need targets with plans to reach them. We have the basic targets for habitat protection, which are to preserve 30% of land and water by 2030. We need to flesh out those targets because simply going for acreage would likely result in failure. We cannot simply set aside large plots of rock and tundra. Large tracks of land are important, but that has to be balanced with protections for smaller areas that represent critical habitat for species at risk. Most of those species at risk are found in southern Canada in the areas where we live and work. These are the ecosystems that we have altered to build cities, grow crops and extract natural resources. Some of the most endangered ecosystems are the Carolinian forest in southwestern Ontario, the tall grass Prairies of southern Manitoba, the Garry oak savannahs of southern Vancouver Island and, in my home habitat, the desert grasslands of the south Okanagan Valley of British Columbia. These ecosystems and others like them need special attention and must not be forgotten in the government's plans. Canada has been a global leader in developing the concept of key biodiversity areas, and we should fully implement this program here as part of our biodiversity strategy. A biodiversity accountability act would clarify what ecosystem protection will look like and delineate a clear plan on how to get there. Of course, it must have robust accountability measures to make sure that successive governments are held accountable to reaching those targets.
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Context: House Hansard - 152 - Feb/2/23
Mr. Richard Cannings
  • Feb/2/23 6:47:36 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I have outlined what we need to do to meet the challenge of biodiversity loss in Canada. We do need legislation that has a process to set meaningful targets, a real plan on how we are going to meet those targets and public, transparent accountability measures to make sure we succeed. The plans for biodiversity protection must include a variety of habitat management models that include measures to protect wide-ranging species, such as caribou, as well as specific sites for other vulnerable species. This will all involve partnerships with indigenous peoples, non-government organizations and, of course, the provinces that control most of the public lands in Canada, but we must succeed. The health of the environment we live in, the environments that provide us with clean air, clean water and rich soils to grow our crops rely ultimately on a rich array of species. Canada said the right things in Montreal when the world was watching and now we must turn those words into bold action to maintain a livable world for future generations.
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