Nature Canada

Trial begins on Irving’s destruction of Heron nests

A hearing begins today in a New Brunswick courtroom to address charges against Maritime conglomerate J.D. Irving Limited after several Great Blue Heron nests were destroyed in 2006.

Here’s a little background on the case:

On November 9, 2006, J.D. Irving Limited and an employee were charged with unlawfully destroying nests of Great Blue Herons, contrary to a regulation under the Migratory Birds Convention Act. In response to this charge the defendants pleaded not guilty. Prior to the start of the trial, Irving challenged the constitutionality of the Act and the regulation, arguing that they go beyond federal powers and violate the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Crown countered that the Act and regulation are a valid exercise of federal power given that they implement an international wildlife treaty and deal with a subject matter of national concern.

On June 9, 2008 Provincial Court Judge Patricia L. Cummins threw out Irving’s lawyers’ challenge to the constitutional validity of the law that protects migratory birds in Canada, the Migratory Birds Convention Act. In her decision Judge Cummins confirmed the federal government’s authority to make laws to protect migratory birds and that the law itself was neither vague nor overly broad.

This paved the way for the hearing into the original alleged offence, the destruction of several nests within a heronry, which starts today.
We were encouraged that the Judge roundly dismissed every detail of Irving’s challenge, and did so with such clarity. Frankly, it would have been shocking had their arguments been accepted, as this law has stood up to 90 years of testing.
This is an important case, as we in the conservation community push Environment Canada to enforce our laws to protect nature and ensure that key regulations like the prohibition against destroying nests or ‘taking’ birds are respected.
It’s also vital that the federal government begin enforcing the Migratory Birds Convention Act against industry across the country — and not simply in this rarest of cases in New Brunswick. Our friends from Nature New Brunswick are at the courthouse monitoring the case and I should be able to update as it progresses over the next two weeks.

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