UK Daily Mail: drifting at sea |
The trade agreement's Central Environmental Commission said there were questions about whether Canada's pro-development government used best available science to make its decision The Center for Biological Diversity which petitioned for the investigation said Canada's decision to give the bear only third tier consideration was not adequate since it offers little in the way of real protection. Canada's environmental record has lately come under international scrutiny. It has been criticized for dropping out of the Kyoto Protocol and expanding Alberta tar sands mining. The Center for Global Development ranked Canada last among the worlds 27 richest countries for its poor environmental record. Conservative prime minister Peter Harper has been accused of muzzling government scientists when their opinions do not fit his energy development agenda. A new regulation requires Canadian government scientists to submit their work to a department head even after acceptance by a peer science journal. CEC has given Canada sixty days to respond to its request for a factual record of how Canada reached its decision to deny polar bears maximum legal protection.