Species at Risk Act: order acknowledging receipt of assessments (volume 145, number 4, February 16, 2011)

Vol. 145, No. 4 -- February 16, 2011

Registration

SI/2011-11 February 16, 2011

SPECIES AT RISK ACT

P.C. 2011-43 February 3, 2011

His Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of the Environment, hereby acknowledges receipt, on the making of this Order, of the assessment done pursuant to subsection 23(1) of the Species at Risk Act (see 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

SPECIES OF SPECIAL CONCERN

MAMMALS

Bear, Polar (Ursus maritimus)

Ours blanc

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order.)

By Order, the Governor in Council acknowledges receipt of the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada’s (COSEWIC) assessment of the status of a wildlife species, the Polar Bear, under paragraph 15(1)(a), and in accordance with subsection 23(1) of the Species at Risk Act (SARA).

The Polar Bear was reassessed by COSEWIC in 2008 as a species of special concern. A decision was made to delay receipt of this wildlife species to allow for extended consultations with the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board and the Nunavut Government. The consultations are now complete.

Under subsection 27(1.1) of SARA, the Governor in Council, within nine months after receiving COSEWIC’s assessment of the status of a species, may review the assessment and, on the recommendation of the Minister of the Environment, may accept the assessment and add the species to the List of Wildlife Species at Risk (“the List”), decide not to add the species to the List, or refer the matter back to COSEWIC for further information or consideration. Under subsection 27(1) of SARA, the Governor in Council may also, on the recommendation of the Minister of the Environment, reclassify or remove a listed species.

Under subsection 27(2) of SARA, before making a recommendation to the Governor in Council, the Minister of the Environment must take into account COSEWIC’s assessment of the status of a species. In addition, the Minister of the Environment consults the Parks Canada Agency with respect to individuals of species that are in or on federal lands administered by the Agency. Furthermore, if a species is found in an area in respect of which a wildlife management board is authorized by a land claims agreement to perform functions in respect of a wildlife species, the Minister of the Environment must consult that wildlife management board.

Footnote a
S.C. 2002, c. 29

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