Leaked Paper - Harper Plan Will Weaken Canadian Species Law Across Board

[hatrack]

OTTAWA - The Harper government is quietly drifting away from protecting endangered species that are standing in the way of economic expansion, a leaked federal document has revealed.

The draft policy document from Environment Canada suggests federal officials want to water down the Species at Risk Act in order to allow government regulators to factor in ''socio-economic'' concerns such as forestry, oil sands exploration and residential construction when they identify critical habitat areas that require protection.

Environmentalists warn that the new proposal, if adopted, could poison scientific evaluations of what species need for survival in order to accommodate economic needs. ''Basically they're cutting corners in the law inappropriately,'' said Stephen Hazell, acting executive director of the Sierra Club of Canada. ''If we care as a nation about our wildlife, we can't allow that to happen. If our only value is ensuring good profits in the forest industry, then we will lose the woodland caribou in Alberta.''

Hazell said the Sierra Club, which obtained the draft document, dated July 31, 2006, is considering whether to mount a legal challenge if it is adopted as policy, but an Environment Canada official argued that the environmentalists had misinterpreted the proposal.

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http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/story.html?id=cca4d8b2-efc2-4287-a886-50059822322d&k=76215