Environment committee  We are amending clause 10, to replace lines 2 and 3 with lines talking about public participation. If we look at the Canada National Parks Act, we see more opportunity for public consultation than in Bill C-40, which is interesting but also problematic. We'd like to see clause 10 amended to ensure that it's closer to the public consultation standards in the National Parks Act.

Environment committee  Mr. Chair, this would see us amending clause 9 and adding quite a bit after line 43. The point of this amendment is to mandate the regular scientific monitoring of land surface and land cover in the park. I draw specifically on testimony from Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, when they talked about the need for requirements for setting ecological objectives and indicators, and provisions for ecological monitoring.

Environment committee  Oh, right. I'm trying to keep up here. Thank you, Mr. Chair. You will see that this would amend clause 9. There's a lot of the same reasoning that Mr. Hyer pointed out. Specifically, it is adding the word “aboriginal” in the list for heritage and also encouraging ecological and sustainable farming practices.

Environment committee  Help me understand, Mr. Chair, because I thought that if it was defeated—

Environment committee  Mr. Chair, in addition to the comments you've just heard about ecological health, I think this amendment to clause 9 would identify best management practices within infrastructure guidelines, encourage net gain to the park, and avoid incremental net loss. I think it's an important amendment.

Environment committee  Mr. Chair, this amendment would amend clause 9, as you can see, and replace certain lines. Again, we are trying to get at the issue of ecological health and ecological integrity, watershed health, while at the same time recognizing that agriculture is a large part of the park.

Environment committee  Mr. Chair, we're amending clause 9. As you can see, we're replacing lines to talk about a “science-based management plan that sets out a long-term vision”. I think this is an important clause to strengthen the bill so that it is more in line with the Canada National Parks Act. It includes details about ecological protection while recognizing that agriculture is also a big part of the park and the fact that it is in an urban setting.

Environment committee  Before we get to the main clause, I would like to move an amendment from the floor which I think might capture what we need here. If we turn to clause 6, you'll note it starts on line 35 and carries on and we're replacing line 36 on page 3 with the following: The Minister must, in the management of the Park, prioritize improvement of the health of the Park's ecosystem; 6(2) For greater certainty, the Minister must recognize and take into consideration the ongoing presence of agriculture in the Park.

Environment committee  I have it on my iPad.

Environment committee  Absolutely. Just don't go through my e-mails.

Environment committee  Do we go to amendment PV-3a before that?

Environment committee  I thought we defeated amendment PV-3.

Environment committee  It has been a while since we've done clause-by-clause consideration, so I'm rusty. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Environment committee  This is getting at the essence of what we've just heard and the debate around amendment PV-3, which is specifically taking into account ecological health and making ecological integrity one of the top priorities. This is based on evidence we heard at committee, notably from CPAWS and also from the York Region Federation of Agriculture's Ms.

Environment committee  Mr. Chair, I would like confirmation that in fact every member who's here at the table has permission to be here.