Environment committee  No, the investment that was announced in economic action plan 2014 was focused on highways, bridges, and dams. That's where the investments will be made in terms of the $391.5 million.

Environment committee  The announcement that was made earlier this week by Prime Minister Harper was focused on supporting infrastructure improvements to heritage, tourism, waterway, and highway assets located within national historic sites, national parks, and national marine conservation areas across Canada.

Environment committee  We've embarked on a five-year ecological restoration program across the agency. The investment over five years will be approximately $85 million. The types of projects we're embarking on are, for example, restoring aquatic connectivity in Banff National Park, the cutthroat trout and the bull trout, and restoring a lot of prescribed burns.

Environment committee  Mr. Chair, thank you for this opportunity to meet with the committee to discuss the 2014-15 supplementary estimates (B) for Parks Canada. Just to give a bit of an overview, last week I returned from the World Parks Congress where close to 6,000 people from 170 countries gathered to debate and discuss the future of national parks and other protected areas.

Environment committee  Mr. Chair, I did quite a bit of research when we were initially approached, and that was not the case. The federal government at the outset put in $10 million. Since then the province has invested a lot in the acquisition of land, but I have not seen anywhere the concept of a provincial park being proposed.

Environment committee  First, I think we need to understand what our legal obligations are as an agency. What I would say is there is a very significant investment. The minister mentioned $143 million over 10 years, so it's more than $14 million a year. We will have a good mix of investment in law enforcement, but also in restoration, and also in science, and all of our programs for resource conservation.

Environment committee  Mr. Chair, I think we have more than 100 years of experience through our park wardens and law enforcement. I'll use Banff as an example, but you can look at most of our national parks where there is, as in the case of Banff, an RCMP detachment that deals with all the criminal investigations.

Environment committee  Mr. Chair, what I can say is that we are establishing this national urban park for different reasons. First, clearly it's for conservation. That is clearly our objective, but it's not only that; it's also to ensure sustainable farming. In terms of our objectives, we will meet the objectives that were set out in those documents.

Environment committee  Mr. Chair, what we've committed to—Andrew negotiated that—is basically that we have a signed agreement at the ministerial level with specific obligations on both the federal and provincial governments.

Environment committee  It was for us, the federal government, to meet the policies of the provincial government. Nowhere are there obligations in terms of legislation. When we finalize that draft management plan, we're looking forward to receiving from the Government of Ontario their perspective and their comments on the management plan.

Environment committee  To give you a very short answer, I think our objective is to work with the farming community on what are, within the farming industry, the best environmental standards. That's what we want to work with them on, and those that are accepted within that geographical area that have already been developed by the industry.

Environment committee  Mr. Chair, there are some great best practices currently, so it's to continue working with them on that and working with education organizations and others. Again, first and foremost in our case would be for Parks Canada to work with the farming industry to develop those standards.

Environment committee  What I would agree with is that in clause 6 of the bill, it goes beyond ecological health. What is being proposed is to protect the “natural ecosystems”, the “cultural landscapes”, “the maintenance of...native wildlife”, and the “health of...ecosystems”. That is what is in the bill.

Environment committee  I think it's important for members to understand that the National Parks Act states that the minister shall give “ecological integrity” the “first priority”. That clause was challenged by CPAWS legally against a previous minister, and what the court ruled is basically that there can be several priorities, and if the minister has considered that, in that case she met her objective.

Environment committee  Mr. Chair, first I would say that nowhere in the bill do you see “ecological health”. What you will see is “the health of those ecosystems”. I think that is one important point. The second point is that through the management plan, which is a requirement under the bill that's being proposed, there are some specific obligations on the minister, including reporting on the state of those—