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Summer 2007
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CEC Secretariat publishes two factual records
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| ArborVitæ Environmental Services Ltd. |
| An “area of concern” in Ontario shows a buffer of unharvested timber between a stream and clearcut area. |
Ontario Logging
In January, the CEC Council issued a much-anticipated decision to make the Secretariat’s findings in the Ontario Logging case available to the public. The Ontario Logging factual record, released by the Secretariat in February, provides detailed information regarding Environment Canada’s alleged failure to enforce a prohibition on destroying migratory bird nests against clearcut logging in Ontario.
Acting on behalf of several Canadian and US nongovernmental organizations, Sierra Legal Defence Fund (SLDF) filed the Ontario Logging submission with the CEC five years ago, in February of 2002. Based on a study carried out by its scientists, SLDF claimed that clearcut logging destroyed an estimated 85,000 migratory bird nests in areas of central and northern Ontario in 2001, during the nesting season. SLDF claimed that despite the potential number of nests destroyed, an access to information request filed with the Canadian Wildlife Service yielded no information on investigations or charges for violations of s. 6(a) of the Migratory Birds Regulations in connection with logging in Ontario in 2001.
In the submission, SLDF based its estimate regarding the potential number of nests destroyed on information contained in forest management plans approved by Ontario’s Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR). In April 2003, the CEC Council held that SLDF had not presented sufficient evidence in support of their allegations. The Council suspended processing of the submission, giving the Submitters 120 days to file more information. When 2001 logging data was released by MNR, SLDF repeated their calculations using this data and filed the results with the Secretariat, revising the original estimate of 85,000 nests destroyed down to 45,000.
In the factual record, the Secretariat presents in-depth information regarding protection of migratory bird nests under Ontario’s forest management system and Canada’s actions to enforce s. 6(a) of the federal Migratory Birds Regulations in the Ontario forestry context for the year 2001.
Pulp and Paper
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| Bowater Mersey Paper Company Ltd. mill, Brooklyn, Nova Scotia |
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| Courtesy of ACI |
| Abitibi-Consolidated mill, Grand Falls, Newfoundland and Labrador |
Pulp and paper mills in Canada were the subjects of another factual record released by the Secretariat in February. The factual record responds to allegations that Canada is failing to effectively enforce the pollution prevention provisions of the Fisheries Act and provisions of the Pulp and Paper Effluent Regulations, or PPER, against pulp and paper mills in Quebec, Ontario and the Atlantic provinces.
The Pulp and Paper submission was filed with the CEC on 8 May 2002, by Sierra Legal Defence Fund (SLDF) on behalf of Friends of the Earth, Union Saint-Laurent, Grand Lacs, Conservation Council of New Brunswick, Ecology Action Centre and Environment North. On 11 December 2003, in Council Resolution 03-16 the CEC Council voted unanimously to instruct the CEC Secretariat to prepare a factual record.
On 28 June 2006, the Secretariat submitted the final factual record to the CEC Council. On 31 January 2007, in its Resolution 07-03, the Council voted unanimously to instruct the Secretariat to make public the factual record.
The factual record provides information regarding Canada’s alleged failures to effectively enforce section 36(3) of the Fisheries Act, alleged effluent test failures, and failure to conduct follow-up tests as required under the PPER, with respect to the following mills and time periods:
- Irving Pulp and Paper Ltd. at Saint John, NB, from 1996 to 2000;
- AV Cell Inc. at Atholville, NB, for 2000;
- Abitibi-Consolidated (ACI) at Grand Falls, NL, for 2000;
- Bowater Mersey Paper Company Ltd. at Brooklyn, NS, for 2000;
- Fjordcell Inc. at Jonquière, QC, for 2000;
- Interlake Papers at St. Catharines, ON, for 2000;
- Tembec Inc. at St. Raymond, QC, for 2000;
- Uniforêt-Pâte Port Cartier Inc. at Port-Cartier, QC, for 2000;
- F.F. Soucy Inc. at Rivière-du-Loup, QC, for 2000; and
- La Compagnie J. Ford Ltd. at Portneuf, QC, for 2000.
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