Fisheries committee  Is this specific to Parks Canada?

Fisheries committee  Okay. We have an annual budget that is approved, and that includes investments in capital funds for our $10 billion worth of assets, including assets within national historical sites and assets within national parks. So there are some historic and some contemporary assets. We ha

Fisheries committee  Exactly, and for which we have some flexibility in deciding how we would make allocations.

Fisheries committee  Perhaps I can add a little bit of information. Parks Canada has had a long history of dealing with volunteer organizations--community groups, if you will. We see the same sort of situation occurring here that we are used to. If a community group were interested in taking over

Fisheries committee  Because we remove the access structures.

Fisheries committee  I believe someone mentioned previously that there's an obligation in the bill to maintain a heritage lighthouse. For that maintenance obligation to be respected, the site would have to be accessible. There may be an issue of how you would pay for that, in particular, if it's a c

Fisheries committee  One would hope so. Doing this on an ad hoc basis, looking at one individual building type at a time, creating an administrative infrastructure, different designation processes, and different criteria for different purposes--all of that is very expensive, and all of that leads to

Fisheries committee  No, I don't think it would be cumbersome. We have a Government of Canada policy on federal heritage buildings that requires the cooperation of a number of departments, and that works quite nicely. I don't see why this would be any different.

Fisheries committee  That would be part of the business case. The group would have to provide some indication of their financial capabilities and any assistance they may require.

Fisheries committee  The designation process is done through a public petition. So 25 Canadians would get together and submit a proposal to designate a lighthouse as a heritage lighthouse. Criteria would be developed. That authority rests with the Minister of the Environment. The designation criteria

Fisheries committee  My name is Doug Tapley. I manage cabinet affairs for Parks Canada.

Fisheries committee  We're pleased to be here this morning to have an opportunity to participate in your deliberations. I would like to make some brief opening remarks on behalf of Parks Canada. Mr. Hegge will do the same afterwards on behalf of Fisheries and Oceans Canada. From a heritage conserva