Bill No. 102 - Wildlife Act. - 2nd Reading

CLAUDIA CHENDER « » : I'm happy to rise and speak to this bill. I would echo many of the comments of my colleague. We are interested in hearing some of the details, and in hearing from people at the Law Amendments Committee process, but I do want to take a moment and just note that protecting wildlife, which the minister bordered on talking about a little bit, is also about ensuring that their habitat is protected.

Just a day ago, we learned that the harvest for Beals Brook has been revised and approved. It's our position that in that biodiverse area, harvests should not go ahead until they've been studied and evaluated for the conservation leg of the triad. Of course, that refers to the Lahey report, which has yet to be implemented. We're seeing similar issues with the proposed harvest in Lunenburg County, where there's been some progress in reviving a population of the endangered Atlantic whitefish, and I'll table that.

The amendment is a positive step, and potentially a useful step, but we're also looking for the transformational changes in environment, and in forestry specifically, that will protect and restore biodiversity.

I look forward to hearing more about this bill at Law Amendments Committee and I look forward to the implementation of the Lahey report.