Environment committee  I want to be clear, Mr. Chair, that from our perspective there is not a shortfall. But I think there has been a shortfall, to be frank, in that I think we haven't been as aggressive as we could have been in terms of economic development in the area. We are dealing with that now.

Environment committee  I can speak specifically...for example, we have what we call a northern model. When we establish a new national park in northern Canada, the Government of Canada has been investing $1.4 million ongoing for this new park, between $1.4 and $1.6 million. In the Nahanni expansion, wh

Environment committee  No, it was announced in the February budget and it will be reflected in our estimates through the supplementary estimates later this year. But they're for this year and then for future years.

Environment committee  No, there's $391 million over five years and through the supplementary estimates, again, the numbers will be reflected.

Environment committee  The only thing I could say is that you're probably reading the section that's on an accrual basis, that shows that even if you invest, for example, $50 million this year, the depreciation would be close to $1 million this year only. So it could be the difference between your inte

Environment committee  I'm not exactly sure of the area you're referring to.

Environment committee  Mr. Chair, the supplementary estimates reflect the decision made by the Canadian government, in Budget 2013, to invest $18.9 million more in highways and bridges in national parks. In our case, that involves a number of spots along the Trans-Canada Highway, for example. We have i

Environment committee  Mr. Chair, I have to tell you that's an area where we very much disagree with the commissioner, and I want to make that perfectly clear. Parks Canada's resource conservation team has nearly 600 members. They are incredible men and women who work on fulfilling our conservation obj

Environment committee  Thank you for the question. I have two brief comments. First, we haven't raised user fees in our national parks or historic sites since 2008. And no decision has yet been made. Second, all the revenue generated by a national historic site or national park stays in the local bud

Environment committee  I will answer that.

Environment committee  Mr. Chair, in terms of doing maintenance work on our assets, it wouldn't have been. For example, special events or minor events in national historic sites of gathering would have historical.... But doing the minor work, like painting a bench, would not have been a—

Environment committee  In the case of Parks Canada specifically, they were quite significant. Again, because of the nature of our operation and the nature of the activities that we carry out, currently what we're doing is really focusing on the big projects that could have major impacts. In fact, in h

Environment committee  Mr. Chair, we took it seriously because it was the law, so I want that to be clear. In terms of our investments, what we're doing now is focusing our investments on where there could potentially be the biggest impact from an ecological perspective. We have not produced in huge nu

Environment committee  Mr. Chair, Parks Canada, together with the provincial parks, did a study on the economic benefits that parks generate across the country. The results show that the economic benefits really are that high.

Environment committee  Thank you for your question. I want to make it perfectly clear that none of Parks Canada's parks or historic sites are closing. In fact, Parks Canada's budget changes did not result in a single closure. Keep in mind that, while we have made budget cuts in the past two years, du