Bill C-454

1st Session, 41st Parliament,

60-61 Elizabeth II, 2011-2012

house of commons of canada

BILL C-454

An Act respecting an All Buffleheads Day

Whereas the Bufflehead is Canada’s smallest diving duck and one of the rarest ducks in North America, and it occurs from coast to coast and migrates between Canada and the United States;

Whereas the Bufflehead has set a world record for punctuality in its migrations by consistently arriving in Shoal Harbour Bird Sanctuary on Vancouver Island on the 298th day of the solar cycle;

Whereas 2011 marks the 80th anniversary of the 1931 creation of both the Shoal Harbour Bird Sanctuary, the first marine migratory bird sanctuary on Canada’s west coast, and its sister sanctuary, the Esquimalt Lagoon Bird Sanctuary, as part of Canada's commitment to the Migratory Birds Convention Act and to the protection of the habitats of both resident and migratory bird species;

Whereas the 298th day of the solar cycle, except in leap years, falls on October 15th, and marks the very day on which Buffleheads return to the Shoal Harbour Bird Sanctuary from their summer habitat on the northern Great Plains;

Whereas the punctuality of this migratory phenomenon represents an important marker by which to gauge climatic changes across the nation;

And whereas Nature Canada, at its 2010 Annual General Meeting, passed a resolution calling for October 15th to be proclaimed “All Buffleheads Day”;

Now, therefore, Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:

SHORT TITLE

1. This Act may be cited as the All Buffleheads Day Act.

ALL BUFFLEHEADS DAY

2. Throughout Canada, in each and every year, the 15th day of October is to be known as “All Buffleheads Day”.

3. For greater certainty, All Buffleheads Day is not a legal holiday or a non-juridical day.