Well it looks like Canada’s Environment Minister, may actually be forced to do something about the environment!

EDMONTON, AB – A coalition of environmental groups today served Federal Environment Minister Rona Ambrose with a petition giving her 60 days to step in to protect two endangered plants in Alberta or face a lawsuit. Alberta Wilderness Association, Federation of Alberta Naturalists, Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, Sierra Club of Canada and Nature Canada, represented by Sierra Legal Defence Fund, are threatening the suit to test the federal government’s intention to protect Canada’s endangered wildlife.
“When Canadians were assured by the federal government that the Species at Risk Act would protect all of Canada’s endangered plants and animals, were they being told the truth?” asked Rachel Plotkin of Sierra Club. “This case will reveal the answer.”
The Species at Risk Act, while a national law, does not apply in the provinces unless the federal cabinet orders it to, which it will do only on the recommendation of the Federal Environment Minister if she considers provincial laws inadequate. But Minister Ambrose has failed to make such a recommendation for Alberta despite the fact that the province has no endangered species legislation and does not protect national endangered species.
To test the government’s commitment to protecting all of Canada’s endangered species, the groups are asking Rona Ambrose to recommend protection for the tiny cryptanthe and small-flowered sand verbena. These plants, though at immediate risk of extinction, have small populations and small footprints making them an easy choice for protection.

I say kudos to the Sierra Club of Canada and all other groups involved.

The federal cabinet must order this law to be applied in Alberta, and Rona Ambrose must recommend the cabinet to do this. How can she defend that Alberta’s laws as adequate? There are none! Ok, I’ll let her speak first; I’m jumping ahead of the gun with my own preconceived notions of what she will say. It will be interesting to see how she really responds. If she doesn’t respond positively, I would really love to hear her excuse.