Environment committee  I can assure you that in Grasslands, we're still very aggressive in our land acquisition.

Environment committee  Thank you very much for the question. I think a lot of work has been done over the last several years in terms of achieving conservation gains through Parks Canada--work on the expansion of the Nahanni, the east arm of Great Slave Lake, the marine conservation area in Lake Superior.

Environment committee  In terms of understanding the processes, we do respect aboriginal rights, for example. As part of our park establishment process, there are two key steps. One, when there are still outstanding land claims for any given park, we bring a proposal forward for cabinet and then for parliamentary consideration for national park reserve status.

Environment committee  Mr. Chairman, approximately 750 other sites belong to community organizations, provincial governments, other federal government agencies—for example, National Defence has a number of them—which manage them. They are responsible for managing those buildings or places, and they receive funding in order to do so.

Environment committee  Pardon me, I would simply like to confirm that, in our budget, there is approximately $1.1 million for a grants and contributions program to support those organizations, which are third parties.

Environment committee  Yes. Those are all critical steps in terms of the establishment of national parks. In the case of Nahanni, it is to expand the national park and to get it to a national park reserve. And it's the same in terms of the Naats'ihch'oh National Park Reserve. It is to complete the consultation and the engagement with the first nations to actually establish the park.

Environment committee  Significant progress has been made this year, for example, on the Nahanni expansion from two perspectives. On the northern component of Nahanni, we've been working with the Dechi Laot'i First Nation to complete the consultation to establish the park boundaries. And then on the southern watershed of Nahanni, we've reached an agreement with the Naats'ihch'oh for the Naats'ihch'oh National Park Reserve.

Environment committee  Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and committee members. It's a real pleasure to be here today. I'm very pleased to work with the committee, including answering any questions that you may have following my presentation. First, I'd like to share with you how proud I am to be part of the Parks Canada Agency.