Species at Risk Act: A Comprehensive Inventory of Legislative Documents, 1973-2017

Date
2018-03-02
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Canadian Institute of Resources Law (CIRL)
Abstract
The long and complex history of the enactment of the Canadian Species at Risk Act (SARA) made this statute a prime target for a legislative and documentary history. The sheer volume of, and difficulty in locating, documents related to and considered in the development of SARA is vast. In a 30-year period, 18 bills relating to species protection were introduced in the House of Commons. In the past 15 years, 12 amending bills were introduced and 70 pieces of subordinate legislation were registered under SARA (largely regulations and Orders in Council). This legislative and documentary history includes all bills, amendments, and regulations, beginning with the 1973 Speech from the Throne and ending in February 2018. It also includes parliamentary papers and committee reports, related international treaties, regulatory process information, reports and backgrounders from various government departments and non-government organizations (NGO’s), and selected scholarly articles documenting the legislative process. The purpose of this legislative and documentary history is to facilitate an understanding of the legislative framework for SARA and assist with identifying primary legal documents related to endangered species research in Canada.
Description
A documentary history of Canada's Species At Risk Act (SARA) to February 28, 2018. This paper was included as part of A Symposium on Environment in the Courtroom: Enforcement Issues in Canadian Wildlife Protection, held March 2 & 3, 2018 at the University of Calgary's Faculty of Law by the Canadian Institute of Resources Law, with the financial support of Environment and Climate Change Canada.
Keywords
endangered species, wildlife law, environmental law, Species At Risk Act, legal research
Citation
Hoffman, N. (2018). Species at Risk Act: A Comprehensive Inventory of Legislative Documents, 1973-2017. Retrieved from https://cirl.ca/files/cirl/nh_sara-paper_eng.pdf.