Other letters and things we have organized:

March 20, 2012:

Dear Canadian Scientists, Chers Scientifiques,

You have undoubtedly heard media reports about possible changes to Canada's Fisheries Act, changes that would reduce or eliminate habitat protection for species governed by the act. Our understanding is that these changes would weaken this key piece of legislation with serious consequences for Canada's marine biodiversity.

We still have little specific information about how and when changes will be introduced, but we feel an urgent need to express our strong concern and contribute to public awareness, and we are seeking your support. Importantly, we worry about similar changes that might be propsed to the Migratory Birds Protection Act and to SARA. It is an exceedingly important time to get, and stay, involved.

This letter (version francaise ici ) , already signed by a number of Canada's most eminent environmental scientists, will be sent to Prime Minister Harper and released to the media later this week. We are aiming to gather as many signatories as possible, in order to send the strongest possible message to the Prime Minister, and garner as much attention as possible for this issue. Please consider adding your name as a signatory to the letter.

First, please read the letter . If you would like to add your name to the signatories, please send an email to scientists4species@gmail.com by 1200 PST Wednesday March 21 . In your message, please include the following:
1. Full name, title, rank and position/ affiliation (this will appear as part of the signature list)
Examples:
George Lee, M. Sc. student, Department of Biology, the University of my home province.Annie D'Souza, Professor, Fisheries institute, the University of your home province.
2. A clear statement indicating that you have read the letter and wish to add your name as a signatory (this clarifies your intention).
If possible, please send your message using a professional email address, and/ or including a link to a professional/ institutional web site.

Why are we being picky about the details? We want to make sure that we can defend our process and the list of signatories. This letter is written on behalf of knowledgeable scientists, and we are asking scientists to sign if they agree with the letter. Other groups or individuals are encouraged to develop their own letters.
Thank you,
David Schindler, Jeannette Whitton, Arne Mooers

March 22, 2012:

The letters (version francaise ici ) and press release have now gone out: 625 signatories in two days - this is obviously a topic the scientific community cares strongly about.

Original call for support:


Spring 2011: BC has no species are risk legislation, but a BC Species at Risk Task Force was convened in 2010 to report on the issue. They submitted their report to the Provincial government in early 2011. We responded to the call in the fall of 2010 with the following:
1. An open letter to Premier Campbell calling for strong endangered species legislation in BC plus press release (Sept. 28, 2010)
2. An Op-Ed in the Vancouver Sun on the issue (Nov. 3, 2010)
3. An open letter from UBC biologists (Nov. 15, 2010) to the task force
4. An open letter from SFU biologists (Nov. 15, 2010) to the task force.
The task force report was released to the public in summer, 2011). Critically, the task force does NOT recommend new stand-alone species at risk legislation. We were disappointed, to say the least.

Spring 2009

The Canadian Institute of Ecology and Evolution, aligned with the Canadian Society of Ecology and Evolution ran a workshop on Scientific aspects of SARA in November 2008. We created SCOSAR (the Scientific Committee on Species At Risk in Canada), to offer more scientific input to the implementation of the Act. One can find out more, including a transcript of our Parliamentary testimony, here.