Environment committee  Thank you very much and good afternoon. First of all, I would like to thank you for this opportunity to share the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society's views on your five-year review of Canada's Species At Risk Act. My name is Éric Hébert-Daly and I am the National Executive

Environment committee  As I mentioned in my brief, I think the important thing is that we do need to bring people to the table and make sure that the duplication that exists in the system and the many different processes is simplified. Obviously there's a cost to doing conservation work, so I don't wa

Environment committee  As a matter of fact, animals tend to disregard borders. That's a problem. In so far as jurisdiction is concerned, whether it be provincial, municipal, Canadian or North American, we need to come up with specific solutions for specific species. The current Species At Risk Act does

Environment committee  Sure. There's no question that the prey-predator relationships are a factor, but I think one of the key things, as I mentioned earlier, is that we're creating in some cases, particularly near protected areas already.... As you rightfully pointed out, the range of woodland caribo

Environment committee  One example is in fact the Boreal Leadership Council, which actually does quite a bit of work in terms of pulling together industry officials and conservation organizations to sit down at the table and ask how we protect this particular area with a land use plan that is actually

Environment committee  When the bill was initially tabled?

Environment committee  Yes, we were involved in the process. I believe all of my associates worked on this file.

Environment committee  I should probably turn that over to Peter, given that this is an area of his expertise and not mine.

Environment committee  Obviously, caribou have not roamed in these parts for at least 200 years, but that's neither here nor there.

Environment committee  Yes, they can. However, I honestly believe that some scientists are capable of identifying a caribou and determining what it needs to survive. I'm not about to go on the attack and say that federal workers generally cannot tell the difference between a carrot and a cow.

Environment committee  It's a fact that as a result of urbanization in Canada, more and more, people are out of touch with nature. It's a problem, not only for governments and public servants, but for people in general. I quite agree with you on that score.

Environment committee  To say that this legislation is now grown up conjures up a nice image. We're not quite sure how it's all going to work out. However, I believe just as Rachel does that we have reached the peak, that is to say, that we have worked long enough on plans and structural issues to be

Environment committee  The reality is that Canada's land mass is predominantly public. I mean, we have a public land mass. In fact, then, not only do we have a conservation opportunity internationally because of the size of our land mass, but we also have a political opportunity, and an ease of opportu

Environment committee  There is currently a proposal for a national park reserve in a place called Nááts'ihch'oh, which is just north of the Nahanni National Park, which was expanded last year. It's urgent because in fact it's on the verge of determining its boundaries. Currently there are three sets

Environment committee  I think Rachel, frankly, has probably made the clearest point there. So no, I don't think there's anything to add.