NAGOYA, Japan – Liberal Environment Critic Gerard Kennedy today responded to Environment Minister Jim Prentice’s statement to delegates at the United Nations Convention on Biodiversity, terming it “as empty as Canada’s current store of international credibility.”
“Under Mr. Prentice’s direction, Canada’s only noteworthy contribution here has been blocking the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, earning it a ‘Dodo of the Week’ award from international NGOs,” said Mr. Kennedy, who is also attending the Convention. “The Dodo award is now in Mr. Prentice’s trophy case of shame to go with the ‘Fossil Award’ he picked up in Copenhagen.”
In his statement, the Minister distorted his government’s environmental record by using only very selective facts. Mr. Kennedy said the truth is something quite different.
“When he says ‘Canada is helping,’ Canadians need to know that our country’s contribution to the protection of biodiversity in the developing world is only one-tenth the size per capita of Japan’s contribution and less than half of the per capita funding of Britain,” he said.
Minister Prentice boasts of his government’s record on the national park system and at-risk species are also hollow, since they are just announcements at this point.
“Only eight of the 470 species at risk that they’ve declared have fully complete protection plans, including critical habitat,” said Mr. Kennedy. “And when he talks about a 30% expansion of the national parks system, the reality is that most of the parks they’ve proclaimed are years away from being implemented and, in fact, Parks Canada’s budget for next year shows a significant reduction.
“Biodiversity is the essential point of this convention. It includes 90% of areas outside of official parks that need protecting. The amount of ocean under protection in Canada, for example, is less than 0.5%, far below the world average,” Mr. Kennedy said.
The government’s own report heading into the conference showed that the Conservatives aren’t doing nearly enough to protect our grasslands, our coasts, the Arctic and our plant and animal life from invasive species.
“As the world’s biggest stewards of biodiversity per capita, Canada should be the best in the world at looking after our natural heritage. Instead, we have many UN member countries seriously questioning whether Canada should continue to host these biodiversity conferences given its poor record,” said Mr. Kennedy.
Liberal Aboriginal Affairs Critic Todd Russell said the government’s track record on Canada’s indigenous peoples is just as much of an international embarrassment.
“It is an embarrassment that Canada, once a leader on human rights issues, continues to lose credibility on the world stage thanks to this government,” said Mr. Russell. “A future Liberal government will most certainly sign the Declaration.”
