Read this blog from Andrew Gage at West Coast Environmental Law on the Harper Government’s plan to gut of the Fisheries Act. (March 19, 2012)
Last week fisheries biologist, Otto Langer, went public with a leaked draft of proposed amendments to the federal Fisheries Act which would remove any mention of fish habitat from the Act. When asked about these rumours in Parliament the government seemed to confirm that changes along these lines have not been ruled out, although in a statement on Friday Fisheries and Oceans Canada emphasized that no final decision has been made.
We don’t know the truth of these reports. Indeed, the proposed amendments are so outrageous that one might ask whether they are a “straw man” – an idea set up to be knocked down. Could this proposed amendment have been leaked so that when abandoned the government can appear that much more reasonable and balanced if and when it guts the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, the Species At Risk Act and other environmental laws?
We’re concerned about proposed amendments weakening a range of Canadian environmental laws, all of which are extremely important, but the amendments can be complicated. But the proposed Fisheries Act amendment, if real, is easy to understand: removing legal protection for fish habitat will harm fish. And, in BC at least, that will harm what is an iconic species – the salmon.
Appreciation for the salmon, and concern about its habitat, cuts across the supporters of all political parties. These proposed amendments to the Fisheries Act are about allowing business interests to destroy fish habitat and will be very difficult for the government to sell to Canadians.