Alberta’s Wildlife Act: Insights from a U of C Environmental Law Class

Wild Lands Advocate article, April 2015, by Brittany Verbeek

Legislative frameworks for endangered species across the country largely were sparked by Canada’s ratification of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity in 1992. To uphold this international treaty, Canada developed a national biodiversity strategy in 1995 and seven years later Parliament passed the Species at Risk Act (SARA). During that same time period Alberta signed the National Accord for the Protection of Species at Risk, an agreement to work collaboratively with other provinces, territories, and the federal government to develop laws and policies for protecting species at risk and their habitats. University of Calgary law professor Shaun Fluker believes that anyone who seeks meaningful legislative protection for threatened species in Alberta must advocate not only for federal legislation but also for strong provincial laws.