EDITOR’S NOTE: This article originally appeared in Parliament Today, a Village Media newsletter devoted to covering federal politics on Parliament Hill.
Environment commissioner Jerry DeMarco is calling for a “rethink” on how Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) backs one of its advisory committees, warning that staying the course could lead to more species becoming extinct.
DeMarco issued the call after tabling five audit reports on Thursday, one of which dives into the department’s support of the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC).
Seen as the “first step” in identifying measures to protect, manage and recover species at risk, this body was set up in 1977 and meets twice a year to advise Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault on action Ottawa needs to take.
The department provides administrative, financial and technical services to the committee, while also helping prepare its work plans, approving its budget and publishing its documents.
According to the audit, the committee received between $1.2 and $1.9 million annually from the department over the last three years, mainly to cover travel costs and contracts to prepare reports.
The audit noted that during that time frame, the target number of assessments and reassessments related to species at risk dropped from 80 to 60 without justification — with DeMarco noting the targets were missed each time.
“Assessing the species is the critical first step. You don't get to protect or manage its recovery without first assessing,” he explained to Ottawa reporters, comparing the “scale of support” for the work to that provided in the 1970s.
“There was a common theme that the department was setting a target and then not even giving enough resources to meet that target. Unfortunately, the response has been simply to reduce the target each year, which just exacerbates the problem,” he added in response to a question from Parliament Today.
COSEWIC has already identified 25 species in Canada as extinct this year, but DeMarco warned others waiting assessments could slip through the cracks if the government does not treat the matter as a priority.
“We could lose species without even knowing they were in need of protection and recovery,” he warned.
Among DeMarco’s recommendations is for the feds to set targets while keeping the “urgency of the biodiversity crisis and the need to meet Canada’s international commitments” in mind.
The department agreed, promising to work with COSEWIC to “determine the level of support that is needed to achieve the appropriate annual targets within available resourcing” — appearing to suggest there are no plans to change its budget on the horizon.
The feds also signalled they want COSEWIC to take a “risk-based approach” to the targets so those most at risk are prioritized and get “timely assessments.”
