Order Acknowledging Receipt of the Assessments Done Pursuant to Subsection 23(1) of the Act: SI/2020-12

Canada Gazette, Part II, Volume 154, Number 2

Registration

SI/2020-12 January 22, 2020

SPECIES AT RISK ACT

Order Acknowledging Receipt of the Assessments Done Pursuant to Subsection 23(1) of the Act

P.C. 2020-1 January 9, 2020

Her Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of the Environment, acknowledges receipt, on the making of this Order, of the assessments done pursuant to subsection 23(1) of the Species at Risk Act footnote a by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) with respect to the species set out in the annexed schedule.

SCHEDULE

Endangered Species

Fish

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order.)

Proposal

The Order acknowledges receipt by the Governor in Council (GIC) of the assessments of the status of three aquatic species: Carmine Shiner, Rainbow Smelt (Lake Utopia large-bodied population) and Rainbow Smelt (Lake Utopia small-bodied population). The assessments of these three aquatic species were conducted by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) in accordance with its functions under paragraph 15(1)(a) of the Species at Risk Act (SARA) and as required under subsection 23(1) and section 24 of that Act.

Objective

The objective of this Order is for the GIC, on the recommendation of the Minister of the Environment, to acknowledge receipt of the three COSEWIC assessments.

Background

The purpose of SARA is to prevent wildlife species from being extirpated or becoming extinct; to provide for the recovery of wildlife species that are extirpated, endangered, or threatened as a result of human activity; and to manage species of special concern to prevent them from becoming endangered or threatened. COSEWIC was formed as an independent scientific body in 1977 with a mandate to provide a single, official, scientifically sound, national classification of wildlife species at risk in Canada. SARA formally established COSEWIC and requires it to prepare, and provide to the Minister of the Environment, assessments of the status of Canadian wildlife species.

The three freshwater aquatic species currently listed as threatened on Schedule 1 of SARA have been recently reassessed by COSEWIC as endangered and are being considered for reclassification under SARA. These species are the Carmine Shiner, which was included in the COSEWIC Annual Report 2017 to 2018, the Rainbow Smelt (Lake Utopia large-bodied population) and the Rainbow Smelt (Lake Utopia small-bodied population), both included in the COSEWIC Annual Report 2018 to 2019.

Implications

The three aquatic species that are the subject of the Order are species for which the Minister of the Environment is, in consultation with the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, making a recommendation to the GIC with respect to whether or not to amend the List of Wildlife Species at Risk set out in Schedule 1 to SARA, in accordance with subsection 27(1).

Consultation

The purpose of this Order is to acknowledge that the GIC has received the assessments that COSEWIC had previously provided to the Minister of the Environment. Consultations on this GIC receipt Order were not undertaken, as this action does not entail any regulatory decision making. Proposed listing decisions for these species will be prepublished in the Canada Gazette, Part I, after which a 30-day public comment period will be launched.

Departmental contact

Julie Stewart
Director
Species at Risk Program
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
200 Kent Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0E6
Email: SARA_LEP@dfo-mpo.gc.ca