Miscellaneous

Other provisions in the Bill include the following:

• The Bill makes clear that it does not abrogate or derogate from the protection provided for the existing aboriginal and treaty rights of the aboriginal peoples of Canada as recognized and affirmed in section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982.
• The Species at Risk in Ontario Stewardship Program is established. Its purpose is to promote stewardship activities that relate to species listed on the Species at Risk in Ontario List. The Minister may make grants for that purpose.
• Subject to the approval of the Lieutenant Governor in Council, the Minister may establish a committee to make recommendations to the Minister on a variety of matters set out in the Bill.
• A provision is included in the Bill to recognize and promote compliance with the laws of other jurisdictions that protect species at risk.
• The Minister is required to ensure that certain information relating to the Bill is made available to the public, although nothing in the Bill requires the Minister to disclose information if doing so could reasonably be expected to lead to a contravention of the provisions of the Bill that protect species and their habitats.
• The Bill is binding on the Crown. This does not prevent any activity engaged in by the Ministry to assist in the protection or recovery of species listed on the Species at Risk in Ontario List.
• The Lieutenant Governor in Council's regulation-making authority is set out. This includes the power to prescribe exemptions from the provisions of the Bill that protect species and their habitats. A regulation may also provide that no recovery strategy need be prepared for a species, but only if the provisions of the Bill that protect species and their habitats have no application to that species. As mentioned above, species-specific regulations may also be made prescribing an area as the habitat of a species. For species that are listed on the Species at Risk in Ontario List as endangered or threatened species (other than certain species that were classified before first reading of the Bill), time limits are specified for giving notice of proposals to make these habitat regulations, subject to the Minister's ability to give notice that additional time is required to make a habitat regulation or to give notice that a habitat regulation is not required. All of the Lieutenant Governor in Council’s regulation-making authority is subject to special provisions that apply if the Minister is of the opinion that a proposal for a regulation is likely to have a significant adverse effect on a species that is listed on the Species at Risk in Ontario List.

Amendments and Repeals

The Bill repeals the Endangered Species Act, R.S.O. 1990 and makes consequential amendments to the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act, 1997, the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act and the Kawartha Highlands Signature Site Park Act, 2003.

Commencement and Short Title

With certain minor exceptions, the Bill comes into force on June 30, 2008 or such earlier day as may be named by proclamation of the Lieutenant Governor. The short title of the Bill is the Endangered Species Act, 2007.

 
The text above is from the Explanatory Note of the first reading version of the Bill.