Today is the deadline for the public to comment on the federal government’s boreal caribou draft recovery strategy.
The proposed plan is controversial in this province, because industry worries it has the potential to shut down northern development — while the provincial government is concerned it might have to change the way it fights forest fires.
Environment Canada scientist Dr. Greg Wilson acknowledges there are holes in the Saskatchewan data that was used to formulate the draft document — but he says the government has to move now to protect the caribou.
However, Wilson says they are still at the stage of hammering out broad guidelines of the strategy — not specific implications for individual provinces.
He adds there’s a lot of leeway and room for movement in the action plan stage.
Wilson also notes the government normally sets aside 30 days to review the submissions — but because there have been 14,000 so far, he says it’s going to take more time to go through them all and come up with a final strategy.