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March
2000 Newsletter
Nationally
Rare Flying Squirrels in Valley
A
study carried out in July 1999 in Red Hill Valley found
a viable population of Southern Flying Squirrels, a nationally
endangered species classified as "vulnerable" by the Committee
on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. The squirrels
were live-trapped and released along the escarpment between
Mount Albion Road and the King's Forest Golf Course. Sixty
squirrels, including 28 different individuals, were caught
in seven nights of trapping. The study was paid for by the
Regional government, but it is refusing to release the final
report, even to members of Council.
A
recent letter from the Region's lawyer stated that "the
Region is in the course of carrying out a number of studies
on the Red Hill Creek Valley with the objective of completing
construction of the north-south portion of the Red Hill
Creek Expressway. The studies are required in order to comply
with regulatory approval requirements, including an approval
which the Department of Fisheries and Oceans has stated
is required under the Fisheries Act. Unfortunately,
assuming a DFO approval is required, the Canadian Environmental
Assessment Act ("the CEAA") is also triggered and, as
you know, this has resulted in the requirement that the
Region justify the Expressway's completion pursuant to a
rigorous and adversarial public hearing process under the
CEAA. In short, the studies which are on-going, including
studies which provide information on flying squirrels, will
be used in a quasi-judicial hearing process, for the purpose
of the Region obtaining the required regulatory approvals.
Some or all of these studies, when completed, may eventually
be made public as part of that process, but as is normal
in preparing for such a hearing or court process, the studies
and reports, until finalized and until deemed by legal counsel
as appropriate for release at the hearing, are considered
confidential, being for the guidance of legal counsel in
preparation for the hearing."
We
were surprised when told that "client-solicitor privilege"
prevents the flying squirrel report from being released.
We were unaware that the southern flying squirrels that
live in the valley had retained legal counsel. Friends is
hopeful that the Region will be willing to listen to counsel
for the flying squirrels, because it continues to refuse
to hear from the legal counsel of Friends.
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