Yes, certainly. I'm fine with that.
My amendments to these sections, beginning with PV-7 and going through to PV-12, are all relating to division 7, as you will know, which is an extremely important section of Bill C-4. Unfortunately, this is one of those examples of where it would have been so much more preferable to have this in stand-alone legislation.
This relates to the disposition of a substantial chunk of lands that were known as the Dominion Coal Blocks. They were tied up in very old legislation, under the Crow's Nest Pass act, and held by the federal government, but they've also been the subject of significant research and advocacy, because they are part of the proposal for Flathead national park.
They're part of a very significant and valuable ecosystem that is particularly important as a wildlife corridor. It's the Flathead and Elk valleys of southeastern British Columbia, in the riding of our friend, Dave Wilks. Mr. Wilks is well aware of the conservation values here, as are we all. It's also the traditional territories of the Ktunaxa First Nation. I know that first nation has been consulted through this process. They have been the stewards of this land for 10,000 years, so they have something to say about it, and their rights must be respected in this.
The intention of the sale is to open up mining. By the way, there are international concerns as well. UNESCO has declared the Waterton Glacier International Peace Park as a world heritage site, so there is also concern internationally about whether the development of coal mining operations in this area would in any way diminish the ecosystem values found in a world heritage site.
It's hard to overstate the significance of this particular part, division 7 of Bill C-4, in terms of the biodiversity obligations of Canada under the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, under our Canada National Parks Act, and in the interests of future generations.
Mr. Chair, to give you a sense of what I'm attempting to do in my amendments, PV-7 is to create a buffer zone. There would be a two-kilometre inward buffer zone so that there would be a preservation of ecological integrity around the boundaries of wherever there was to be development of coal. We do know that Teck is very interested. This will likely be one of the ways that Canada gets itself out of deficit, by selling off our assets in this way.
The second amendment, PV-8, goes to ensuring that there would be a statutory responsibility that no negative environmental effects would be allowed to the Flathead watershed associated with the sale of the Dominion Coal Blocks.
The third amendment, Mr. Chair, goes to ensuring ongoing consultation with all the key stakeholders. I know there has been discussion, from the briefing we had with officials, but this is to make sure that continues as a matter of statutory obligation.
The next amendment, Mr. Chair, again goes to reinforcing the buffer zone so that if there is a further disposition of lands beyond the one that takes place at the outset, the buffer zones will be protected.
PV-10 speaks to ensuring that within that buffer zone there would not be any activities that would be of the nature of resource development.
PV-11 wants to make sure, and would ensure as a matter of statute, that the Governor in Council would have to ensure there were no negative environmental impacts to the Flathead River watershed from the sale.
The most interesting one, although certainly they're all important, is PV-12. I really recommend it to you because this could be very creative, and I think it will be well received by all stakeholders. It's to ensure that there be a restrictive covenant that runs with the land, so that before disposing of this land we could ensure that any new owner would be required to maintain and preserve the ecological integrity of the land.
Restrictive covenants are used quite commonly across Canada these days for conservation purposes. It would not mean that the Dominion Coal Blocks were not then used for resource development, but as the land was disposed of and sold to private commercial interests, the commitments to maintain ecological integrity would run with the land—not just in the case of a Teck, which is a company with a particularly good reputation, but in the case of others down the road—so that we would be able to protect the ecological integrity of the Flathead. With these amendments, I hope it would be possible to continue moving forward with Flathead as a national park.
These are not trivial concerns. We want to make sure that we watch for the pollution that could be taking place with toxic chemicals, which tend to be involved in acid-mine drainage, with selenium and other substances that could be very negative for the local ecosystem.
I'm getting a bit of a sign from you, Mr. Chair, that this is probably where I should wrap up.
I really hope my colleagues will consider these seriously, because they would be very well received, I think, by all stakeholders.
