By Canadian Press

Ruling should spur federal action to protect at-risk migratory bird habitat: ENGOs

Feb 6, 2024 | 12:01 PM

Environmental groups say a recent court decision must spur quick action from the federal government to better protect critical migratory bird habitat from old-growth logging and other destruction. 

A Federal Court judge sided last week with the environmental groups who alleged Canada’s environment minister had too narrowly interpreted certain federal protections for at-risk migratory birds. 

The groups allege Minister Seven Guilbeault took a position in 2022 that the federal government had no obligation to protect anything other than nests on provincial lands, and not the wider habitat at-risk migratory birds need to survive. 

If that interpretation went unchallenged, the groups argued the majority of critical habitat of at least 25 at-risk migratory bird species, including the marbled murrelet nesting in British Columbia’s coastal old-growth forests, would have been unprotected on non-federal land across the country. 

Chief Justice Paul Crampton’s ruling last week found the minister’s interpretation was unreasonably narrow, sending the minister’s protection statement back to the government for reconsideration.  

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The minister had argued his interpretation maximized the provincial ability to act in an area of shared jurisdiction, while a broader interpretation risked undermining co-operative federalism. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 6, 2024. 

The Canadian Press