InteriorNEWS THE
SMITHERS, B.C.
105th Year - Week 41
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
www.interior-news.com
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CIHL RETURNS Steelheads open season with a bang.
SPORTS/B1
ACTION NEEDED Homeless Awareness week highlights need.
COMMUNITY/A10
HOMELESS IN SMITHERS With Thanksgiving Day fresh in our memories, it is ironic it is followed by National Homeless Awarness week and yes, Smithers is home to people who have nowhere to call home. This week The Interior News looks at different aspects of homelessness in our environs, see pages A9, A11 and A13. Dan Mesec photo
SHELTER SHINES Aviva helps shelter renovate.
OUR TOWN/A14
INSIDE LETTERS A7 COMMUNITY A9 OUR TOWN A14 SPORTS B1 THREE RIVERS C1 CLASSIFIEDS C4
SARA drawn into Enbridge fray By Percy N. Hébert Smithers/Interior News
It isn’t their intent, but Ecojustice could make things a whole lot tougher for Enbridge if their court case against the federal government proves successful. Ecojustice, filed an application in federal court, to force the Conservative government to prescribe and implement a recovery plan for four species listed under the Species at Risk Act, the marbled murrelet, Pacific humpback whale, southern mountain caribou and the Nechako white sturgeon. By law, the federal government must produce and implement a recovery strategy for species identified as threatened or endangered under
SARA. A recovery strategy serves to identify critical habitat for species of concern and subsequently afford protection to the habitat. Ecojustice chose the four species because the government is at least three years behind in their commitment. More importantly, the habitat, terrestrial and marine, of each of these species would be impacted by the construction and operation of Enbridge’s proposed Northern Gateway pipeline. The current legal action represents the fifth such lawsuit Ecojustice has brought against the federal government for failure to meet SARA obligations. “We feel we have strong arguments. In this case there’s a very clear duty under the Act [SARA] to come up with a recovery strategy
within a mandatory deadline,” Sean Nixon, lead counsel for Ecojustice, said. “Because they are least three years behind for the species named, we believe we have a strong case they are acting unlawfully.” The suit seeks an order from the court to force the federal government to release recovery strategies. Once the recovery strategies are released and critical habitat identified, the federal government will have 180 days to protect the habitat. The lawsuit, although not directed specifically at Enbridge, serves to highlight how the federal government’s delay in producing and enforcing recovery strategies can have concrete impacts on species at risk, including the four species named in the most recent lawsuit, Nixon said. See SARA on p. A4
Saturday & Sunday
GROCERY GIVEAWAY
Enter to win back your grocery purchase. 2 Draws to be made. See instore for details.
see page A-20