Environment committee  I will ask my colleague to confirm that.

Environment committee  Under the interim management plan, basically there will not be any fishing in 3% of the area. I want that to be clear. We assessed the ecological and scientific hot spots. In some of the places identified, it will not be possible to remove fish, for example.

Environment committee  That is right. In other places, the principle of sustainable removal will apply. We are going to work with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, as well as the Haida community, on a permanent management plan that will assess all of these issues. To ensure that this ecology is protected in the long term, Parks Canada will implement a science-based program that will rely upon knowledge from universities and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and the traditional knowledge of the Haida community.

Environment committee  The Minister of Fisheries and Oceans will be responsible for managing the fisheries, but the applicable legislation and strategy will depend on the issues and circumstances involved, so as to ensure long-term protection.

Environment committee  It is the notion of continuous management. When science or community consultations provide us with more information, we will act accordingly. That is really the approach Australia has taken. It involves learning to work with the communities and scientific experts and taking long-term measures jointly.

Environment committee  That is in our legislation.

Environment committee  Yes, but there will still be some commercial fishing. Some major changes will be made, including an ecosystem-based approach to managing this protected area. We are going to work with the Haida community and our federal partners—the Department of Fisheries and Oceans—but we will also undertake public consultations and establish an advisory committee on managing the marine park.

Environment committee  Yes, but in this case, the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans also has control, as well as authority when it comes to managing fisheries.

Environment committee  The only difference, I would say, is one is having clear title to the land, for example, in a national park, because we have the reserve concept also. So unless all of the rights have been extinguished—and in the case that there are still land claims, those rights have not been extinguished—we have the reserve concept in our legislation, in national parks and the national marine conservation area.

Environment committee  I must say, if the current partnership and cooperative management and co-management of Gwaii Haanas national park reserve through the archipelago management board, which has representatives from both Parks Canada and the Haida Nation, had not been as solid as it is, we would not be here today.

Environment committee  Those days have been long gone. If you look at the Nahanni National Park Reserve expansion, it's a good example of Parks Canada, the Government of Canada, working with the aboriginal community—in this case, the Dehcho. The recent announcement we've made in terms of the Mealy Mountains National Park Reserve proposal and the boundaries of that is really working with the Labrador Inuit and the Métis nations, again, through the whole establishment process.

Environment committee  The one point I'd like to add, Mr. Chair, if I can, is that I'm extremely proud of—not since I've become CEO, but well before that with Tom Lee and my predecessors—the relationship with aboriginal peoples. We in Canada should celebrate that, because as a parks organization, we are international leaders in this field.

Environment committee  It was a public signing. Do you mean the Canada–Haida agreement?

Environment committee  Yes, it was.

Environment committee  The process, part of it, is called for in our legislation, the Canada National Marine Conservation Areas Act, in terms of the consultation reports, for example, that you have before you. That is one element. Since that time, we've had to complete that. Although we've had a lot of consultation over the last several years, we needed to put it into a readable format, one that could be communicated.