SPECIES AT RISK LEGISLATION: CONSIDERING THE IMPACT TO BUSINESS (2022)

In 2018, the Government of Canada began to use provisions of the federal Species at Risk Act (SARA) to pressure the Province of BC into taking more aggressive action to protect Southern Resident Killer Whales and Mountain caribou, including the potential for full closures of large areas of backcountry and coastal regions. The absence of consideration of the socio-economic impacts of these decisions is creating uncertainty for investors and has caused a sense of panic in the business communities directly affected by these decisions.

In response to the federal government pressure, British Columbia has begun to contemplate the creation of its own species-at-risk legislation, using laws from Ontario and other international jurisdictions as models for its work. Species-at-risk legislation has the potential to maintain and support the natural values of our eco-system while supporting the economic players that work within them. However, the legislation, if developed and implemented without a full economic and social lens, can – through restrictions or prohibitions -- have devastating economic impacts on the local communities and industries like tourism and forestry.

Background on SARA

• Canada’s federal Species at Risk Act (a.k.a. SARA) has been in place since 2002.

• The purposes of SARA are to prevent wildlife species in Canada from disappearing, to provide for the recovery of wildlife species that are extirpated (no longer exist in the wild in Canada), endangered, or threatened as a result of human activity, and to manage species of special concern to prevent them from becoming endangered or threatened. Much of the focus of this act is on habitat, rather than on the animals themselves.
• Under SARA, socio-economic impacts of habitat protections only come into play when the federal Environment Minister makes a recommendation to the federal Cabinet for an order under the act.
• Until recently, SARA had only been an issue for wildlife species with very small home ranges (e.g. Sage Grouse). However, it’s contemplation of habitat protections for wide-ranging species such as Southern Resident Killer Whales and Mountain Caribou have made the implications of SARA to BC’s business community (including tourism) of greater concern.

Impact on Tourism Industry

• Tourism is a sector of BC’s economy that has the greatest potential to be a showcase for the integration of economic and environmental considerations. This is particularly true in the many businesses in or partnering with the aboriginal tourism sector.
• Tourism’s impacts on, and possible benefits to species-at-risk are not well understood by government staff at any levels.
• Tourism marketing, through Destination Canada, Destination BC, and regional and community DMOs, often focuses on protecting natural values and sharing those with guests from around the globe.
• Tourism is often lumped together with public recreation, which downplays the significant opportunities that professional, managed tourism businesses must bring innovative solutions to the table.
• The implications of SARA on tourism, and its weak consideration of economic (and social) impacts means that major decisions on habitat protection (and the impact of those decisions on business) may not be made in a fully informed way.
• Federal staff in Natural Resources Canada use very restrictive approaches to economic analyses that have the potential to significantly under-represent the actual impacts of habitat protections and prohibitions on tourism businesses.
• The uncertainty created by this situation is having negative impacts on investments in natural resource sectors such as tourism.

At present, the approaches taken by both the federal and provincial governments in species-at -risk initiatives (such as killer whales and caribou) have shown a lack of meaningful consultation with the business community.

THE CHAMBER RECOMMENDS

That the Provincial Government:

1. Should it proceed with provincial species-at-risk legislation, all recovery plans and decisions by statutory decision makers must incorporate a socio-economic impact assessment that includes input from communities and business sectors to ensure all values are considered.