Federal Court Weighs-In On SARA Critical Habitat

The Federal Court has now delivered two recent decisions concerning the federal Species at Risk Act, S.C. 2002, c. 29 (SARA) and the identification of critical habitat for species at risk listed in Schedule I of SARA (i.e., a listed species).  On July 9, 2009, the Federal Court quashed the Final Recovery Strategy posted by the federal Minister of the Environment for the Greater Sage-Grouse in Alberta Wilderness Association v. Minister of Environment, 2009 FC 710, because the Final Recovery Strategy identified insufficient critical habitat.  On September 10, 2009, the Federal Court also quashed the Final Recovery Strategy for the Nooksack Dace by the federal Minister of Fisheries and Oceans (MFO) in Environmental Defence Canada v. Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, 2009 FC 878 for similar reasons.  The decisions demonstrate that ENGOs are fully prepared to enforce the SARA in court, which will have important implications for project proponents.