Evidence of meeting #25 for Environment and Sustainable Development in the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was parks.

A recording is available from Parliament.

On the agenda

MPs speaking

Also speaking

Michael Keenan  Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic Policy Branch, Department of the Environment
Mike Wong  Executive Director, Ecological Integrity Branch, Parks Canada Agency
Robert McLean  Executive Director, Habitat and Ecosystem Conservation, Department of the Environment

3:30 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Mark Warawa

Good afternoon, everyone.

Welcome to the 25th meeting of the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development. Today we have witnesses from the Department of the Environment and Parks Canada.

Welcome, gentlemen. We look forward to you sharing with us as we begin our study on a national conservation plan, which I think is very important to every member of this committee. I think you'll find the questions that you receive insightful and very productive.

Mr. Keenan, are you the only one speaking or are all three of you speaking?

3:30 p.m.

Michael Keenan Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic Policy Branch, Department of the Environment

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I will lead off. Mike Wong, the executive director of Parks Canada, will pick up and have additional comments.

3:30 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Mark Warawa

That's very good. You have up to ten minutes.

3:30 p.m.

Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic Policy Branch, Department of the Environment

Michael Keenan

Then there's Robert McLean, the executive director of habitat and ecosystem conservation at Environment Canada, and we're going to give him all the hard questions.

3:30 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Mark Warawa

Okay. Very good.

Proceed, please.

3:30 p.m.

Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic Policy Branch, Department of the Environment

Michael Keenan

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you very much for inviting us to speak to you today about the national conservation plan.

Since the government committed to developing a national conservation plan in the June 2011 Speech from the Throne, Environment Canada, in conjunction with Parks Canada, has undertaken preliminary discussions with a broad range of partners. The focus of these initial discussions has been on identifying key priorities, opportunities, and challenges, as well as the potential main features of a plan.

Based on these early conversations, there's clearly strong support for the idea of developing a national conservation plan that builds on existing successes but also identifies innovative approaches to conservation, including, for example, the stewardship on working lands. As well, a national conservation plan, we've heard, should include terrestrial, marine, and freshwater components.

To put it in context, the Government of Canada is making progress on conservation. In the past six years, for example, the government has taken steps that will add over 150,000 square kilometres to the existing lands and waters administered by Parks Canada—a roughly 50% increase. During that time, total federal protected areas, counting all of the different types of protected areas, have grown by about 11%.

To give you some examples, the government has established three new national wildlife areas in Nunavut, and is in the process of establishing five more in the Northwest Territories as well as the Scott Islands marine national wildlife area out west. The government is focusing on protecting key species and gathering and sharing information to support decision-making in protecting their habitat.

The government is working on a voluntary basis with Canadians and prioritizing stewardship efforts through a range of programs, including the invasive alien species strategy, the ecogifts program, and the natural areas conservation program.

For example, the eco-gifts program provides private landowners with tax benefits for donations of ecologically sensitive lands. The natural areas conservation program is administered by the Nature Conservancy of Canada and other conservation organizations to purchase ecologically sensitive lands.

However, despite significant efforts and progress on conservation issues across Canada, many challenges remain. Biodiversity and ecosystem integrity continue to decline as a result of habitat loss and fragmentation, invasive alien species, and other factors.

Continued conservation efforts are definitely needed in all parts of Canada, and all segments of society have a contribution to make. This is part of the reason why the government sees the national conservation plan as a truly national plan and not simply a federal initiative.

As the primary authorities for land and resource stewardship across much of our country, provinces and territories play an integral role in conservation. Aboriginal groups, environmental organizations, industry, and individual Canadians are also making significant contributions to conserving Canada's natural environment.

A national approach to conservation could help to better establish and advance mutual conservation priorities among all of these players to maximize efforts and achieve partnership where, together, the federal government and its partners and stakeholders can do more, in aggregate, to accomplish more in terms of conservation.

This is the thinking in terms of how a national conservation plan could help contribute to Canada's long-term prosperity by helping to conserve and promote the awareness of natural spaces and species that underpin the environment, human health, and, in a very important way, the Canadian economy.

In terms of our initial thinking, a national conservation plan could be centred around three key elements: first, conserving Canada's natural spaces; second, connecting Canadians with nature as well as connecting habitats and ecosystems through stewardship efforts, the so-called wildlife corridors; and third, restoring degraded ecosystems and recovering the habitat for critical species.

In January of this year, Minister Kent held a round table with participants from a number of non-governmental organizations, private sector associations, leaders in the conservation area from across the country, as well as representatives of first nations. It was a good opportunity to hear from an array of conservation experts about what they see as being key elements of a national conservation plan.

A number of the key themes that emerged from the round table are helping to inform the work of the plan going forward. For example, round table participants identified connecting urban, new, and young Canadians with their natural environment as a possible element of a national conservation plan. While Canadians are generally proud of their natural heritage, many people have limited opportunities to interact directly with nature. Increasing their opportunities to connect with nature would provide a way of encouraging greater direct individual action in terms of conservation.

As I noted earlier, there's a great deal of interest in examining innovative approaches to conservation that could complement the existing successes and existing practices and be a key part of a national conservation plan. The industry representatives who participated in the round table suggested that while the private sector is actively involved in conservation, through a national conservation plan we could provide significant additional opportunities for them to share best practices, to put in place new practices, and to enhance stewardship on private lands and on working landscapes. As well, there would be interest among many in private industry and land owners in discussing economic instruments for conservation efforts that can add to the tool kit for advancing the conservation goals of our country.

A key theme that came out of the round table was the issue of measuring progress on conservation. This ties to the issue of fostering the development of innovative approaches to conservation and stewardship. It's a question of looking at going beyond some of the traditional measures of protection to get a sense of the degree to which we are making progress on conservation through innovative instruments that facilitate conservation on working landscapes, through advanced practices on private lands that may not be part of what we measure as conservation right now.

An important theme that emerged was the need to actively involve the provinces and the territories in the development and implementation of a conservation plan, so the work of the different players on a shared ecosystem is coordinated towards the common objective. In fact, in recent years a number of provinces and territories have developed their own biodiversity targets and resource strategies. While they focus on conserving biological diversity within a particular province or territory, they also involve achieving an economic outcome, and they're also a key part of adding up the efforts across the country.

There are useful lessons to be learned from provinces and territories—what they've done and where they've succeeded—and we need to bring that into a national conservation plan.

In terms of the federal contribution to a national conservation plan, it will be important to capitalize on the government's leverage in different areas—the federal government's international reach, science and data collection and management capacities, and its ability to bring together various groups and individuals to engage in open dialogue.

In conclusion, Environment Canada looks forward to the standing committee's deliberations and insights and views on how best to develop a national conservation plan.

Thank you very much.

3:35 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Mark Warawa

Thank you, Mr. Keenan.

Next we'll hear from Mr. Wong.

3:40 p.m.

Mike Wong Executive Director, Ecological Integrity Branch, Parks Canada Agency

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

I'd like to first of all thank the committee for inviting Parks Canada to speak about our role in the development of a national conservation plan.

I would like to reinforce the comments Mr. Keenan has made regarding the value of a national approach to conservation that builds on existing successes and identifies innovative approaches to conserving the health and diversity of Canada's wildlife and ecosystems for the benefit of current and future generations of Canadians.

We're hearing from our counterparts in North America and other countries that coherent broad-based approaches to conservation are central to sustaining our ecosystems, economies, and the communities we all live in.

As you are aware, Parks Canada, along with our partners and stakeholders, contributes significantly to the key elements around which a national conservation plan can be framed, particularly in the thematic areas that the ministers' round table participants told us are important to them.

Parks Canada is reaching out to urban, new, and young Canadians, for example. We are developing new models for establishing protected areas. And we are using state-of-the-art technologies in our conservation and engagement actions. Our successes in these areas are due, in no small part, to our strong collaborative partnerships with the provinces and territories, aboriginal people, the private sector, and non-governmental conservation organizations.

I would like to take just a few minutes to outline for the committee how Parks Canada's mandate and some of our recent successes can provide an important basis for building a national conservation plan. These include conserving large natural spaces; connecting ecosystems and habitats; restoring ecosystems and habitats and bringing back native species; and connecting Canadians' hearts and minds and engaging them with nature. We have many successes to build upon and we are taking steps with our partners in all four areas.

As you know, recent successes in protecting large, natural spaces have included several world-leading achievements, which led the World Wildlife Fund International to bestow the “Gift to the Earth” award to Parks Canada in 2011.

The establishment of the Gwaii Haanas National Marine Conservation Area Reserve and Haida Heritage Site, in partnership with the Haida Nation, in 2010 led to Canada achieving a world first: a protected area that extends from alpine mountain tops to the deep sea floor.

In 2009 the Nahanni National Park Reserve was expanded to six times its original size through a strong collaboration with the Dehcho First Nations and with the support of the Government of the Northwest Territories. This was a landmark achievement for Canada, possibly one of the greatest in a generation. The expansion of the Nahanni National Park Reserve protected magnificent natural spaces. It also ensured that the Nahanni watershed will remain connected and that iconic wildlife like the grizzly bear, woodland caribou, and Dall sheep would continue to roam freely across this northern landscape.

In 2006 the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario signed an agreement to designate the Lake Superior National Marine Conservation Area, which, at 10,000 square kilometres, is the world's largest freshwater protected area. Since 2006 the Government of Canada has taken actions resulting in the creation of new protected areas within Parks Canada's network, or that have set the stage for future conservation decisions, totalling over 150,000 square kilometres. This will result in a 54% increase in Parks Canada's system of national parks and other protected areas.

In the southern regions of Canada, wildlife habitats have become fragmented, and opportunities for species to move and adapt to changing conditions are increasingly limited. Innovative solutions such as the construction of wildlife overpasses and underpasses, where the Trans-Canada Highway runs its course through our Rocky Mountain National Parks, allow bears, elk, and other native animals to range freely through their habitat without the risk of collision with automobiles.

We're also finding solutions to make sure that the health and integrity of our treasured natural places remain strong. We're using space-based technology, in collaboration with the Canadian Space Agency and the Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, to map and monitor the health of Canada's most remote northern parks.

Where it's needed, we're taking action on the ground; for example, through completing a massive restoration of lakes and rivers impacted by past logging practices in La Mauricie National Park in Quebec.

Also, we're bringing back native species. The reintroduction back into Grasslands National Park of plains bison and the black-footed ferret, which was thought to have been extinct for most of the 20th century, are inspiring examples of success in restoring the natural landscape.

Canadians continue to be inspired by their national park and national marine conservation areas. As they celebrated our centennial with us last year, we took innovative steps, especially with urban and new Canadians, to help them connect with the environment and get out into nature.

For example, many outreach activities were organized to celebrate Parks Canada's centennial in urban areas. In collaboration with multiple partners, we brought genuine Parks Canada experiences to downtown Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver through a day of hands-on activities for urban Canadians to learn more about Canada's protected heritage areas. Our innovative learn-to-camp program opens the door to new opportunities for urban and new Canadians to get outdoors and interact with the natural world while experiencing a unique Canadian camping experience.

Parks Canada also offers a number of exciting and connecting opportunities for youth to understand and experience their national treasures. Among these are programs like My Parks Pass, encouraging grade eight students and their families to come to their national park and connect with nature.

Another example is the Xplorers program, helping children ages six to eleven discover and explore Parks Canada places by means of a booklet that contains a selection of fun activities. In 2011 over 70,000 children participated in this program, at 43 places across the country.

New technologies are allowing us to provide enhanced experiences for our visitors. Through Explora, for example, visitors and hikers at more than a dozen Parks Canada sites across the country can now access GPS-triggered tours about the nature and history of the location using their smart phones.

In addition, Parks Canada has partnered on innovative broadcast productions to reach Canadians where they work, live, and play. Over the last two years Parks Canada has connected Canadians to their national protected places through productions such as A Park for All Seasons, Operation Unplugged, La Part du Monde, and the Gemini-award-winning National Parks Project.

As we reach out and connect with young Canadians, we are listening to them and enabling them to contribute to defining the future of conservation in Canada. In February of this year, for example, Parks Canada hosted workshops with youth from the greater Toronto area to gain their perspectives to help shape the vision and concept of Canada's first national urban park in the Rouge Valley. Youth engagement will continue as the establishment process evolves.

We continue to hear from our stakeholders that national parks and other protected areas must remain a cornerstone of Canada's approach to conservation. New and innovative approaches to the establishment of new protected areas, like the Rouge Valley national urban park, can serve as models for new elements of Canada's conservation toolbox.

Our stakeholders are also telling us that we need to work broadly, engaging all parts of Canadian society in implementing a full spectrum of conservation activities. A national conservation plan could serve as a framework for bringing together new partners in the fisheries, agriculture, and forestry sectors, for example, to find innovative ways to connect protected areas together through ecologically healthy and sustainably managed working landscapes and seascapes.

A national conservation plan has the potential to inspire Canadians to work together in delivering on our conservation commitments. With protected areas as a key pillar, these renewed efforts can also provide benefits beyond biodiversity conservation by securing services like clean air and clean water that Canadians and our economy depend on.

Canada's national parks, national marine conservation areas and other protected areas can serve as the conveners and catalysts for bringing Canadians together in working towards a shared vision for conservation.

Parks Canada looks forward to the points of view and insight of the committee on the development of a national conservation plan.

Thank you.

3:50 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Mark Warawa

Thank you, Mr. Wong.

We will begin our seven-minute round of questioning with Ms. Rempel.

March 8th, 2012 / 3:50 p.m.

Conservative

Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Centre-North, AB

Thank you so much for coming today.

I think I speak on behalf of the entire committee—at least I hope I do—in saying that we are very excited to get started on this study. It's an issue of importance to many Canadians. I think it's one we can find a lot of common ground on.

The reason we wanted to bring you out today was because we want, as a group, to develop a really good structure or a call for witness feedback, so the output of this study allows the minister to embark on a robust consultation process, etc. Our government members have met, and we were kicking around some ideas on what that structure would look like and some of the areas we could get witnesses to comment on. Some of the things we thought about including would be commenting on purpose, why have an NCP, some of the goals the NCP should achieve, and some guiding principles.

What came out of the round table was a set of guiding principles for the plan and some conservation areas of focus: What, as a government, should we be focusing on with regard to conservation priorities, outcomes, or success metrics that the plan could focus on or hope to achieve? What would be the implementation strategies? And then there would be some recommendations for the minister on embarking on a formal consultation process once this information has been collated by committee. Again, this was sort of a high-level brainstorming on some areas.

I was hoping maybe you could comment on that scope and give me your thoughts, based on the work you've done to date, on any other areas we should include and whether there's stuff in there that maybe isn't relevant, etc.

3:50 p.m.

Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic Policy Branch, Department of the Environment

Michael Keenan

Thank you.

Mr. Chair, I wish I'd thought of that list, actually. It's a really good list.

As you work through something like this, starting out with the broader idea of purpose and goals is absolutely right, and moving along to principles and then beginning to bring it down to concrete examples. I would say that in our early thinking we tried to keep both of those two dimensions alive, because we absolutely want to foster and encourage people to bring ideas in.

For example, in the round table one of the things I think the minister heard quite frequently is that you actually have to have a vision. There has to be some passion behind it. You have to have some kind of place on the hill in the future that you can get people to buy into in order to bring the partnership together and the collaboration. Starting there, I would submit, makes a lot of sense. Things like guiding principles are very helpful. So that would be fantastic and very helpful.

Things like metrics and implementation strategies are really good. The one thought we've had is that you do want to be able to have some sort of indication of what you are succeeding in, of what success looks like. What is the definition of “success”? So it can come to the metric issue.

From the early discussions we've had, when people come in with energy, they come in with ideas of principles and things like that. So it's a great way to start.

In terms of implementation strategies, it's an interesting issue. Ultimately, one needs to get there because it's about creating a consensus for what you're trying to do, for why you're doing it, what you're doing, and then the how. The one thought we've had is that it's a question of timing, and it would be interesting to get the perspective of the committee on this. At this point, we're really trying to get people to come with ideas. We've had some early discussion with two groups, Ducks Unlimited and the Nature Conservancy of Canada, about organizing a workshop of specialists on innovations--so where are there neat things happening, where people have tried something and it's working?

As part of the implementation strategies, it's something that does testing and is innovative and brings in the idea of new approaches, and it's finding evidence in Canada. The one thing we've discovered is there are a lot of interesting things happening at a local level that may not have a direct Government of Canada connection, but they are still accomplishing things. And it's bringing those in.

In summary, my first response is that a framework like that would have a tremendous amount of promise because it would deliver on the grand ideas we're trying to bring in, and also it would root it in practical implementation. It sounds fantastic.

3:55 p.m.

Conservative

Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Centre-North, AB

Again, going back to the concept of developing a call or a structure for the study, one of the things we had talked about with my colleagues on the government side was really keeping that call quite high level and open. So it's saying—to your comment—come with your ideas, inform us.

Do you think that approach has worked so far on the round table? I know that guiding principle document, if we can call it that, was a good output. Have we had a lot of response so far from groups that are interested in coming, etc.?

3:55 p.m.

Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic Policy Branch, Department of the Environment

Michael Keenan

I would say we have had a pretty good response from groups who are interested in coming, because we haven't asked, and they've been coming and volunteering. We did the round table. We're working on assembling an innovation workshop. But people are proactively and prospectively sending us in suggestions. So there is a sense of excitement out there. My sense, from the kinds of interventions at the round table, is they do want to come in and they want to share the passion for where we're trying to go and also the practical elements. By having elements that do both, based on the initial response we've gotten, I think it would generate, quite frankly, a good response.

3:55 p.m.

Conservative

Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Centre-North, AB

I'm sure I'm running out of time, so I'm hoping one of my colleagues somewhere will pick up on this line of questioning.

I'd really like your thoughts on categories of stakeholder groups that we should be inviting to committee and on an approach to consultation within the committee, knowing that there will be additional work undertaken once we've provided a summary of these discussions along that framework. Maybe you could begin expanding on that. We'd really look to your advice on that as well.

3:55 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Mark Warawa

I'm going to have you hold those thoughts, and thank you, because your time is up.

Ms. Liu, you have seven minutes.

3:55 p.m.

NDP

Laurin Liu NDP Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC

Thanks.

Before I begin my line of questioning, I'd like to wish my sisters around the table a happy International Women's Day. It's worthy of being mentioned.

I would like to continue what Ms. Rempel was asking about. We have noticed that the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy produced a report in 2003. It's a report that is of incredible quality. They met with hundreds of witnesses. It's really quite extensive. We'd really like to look to the report, as my colleague said, as a guiding document for this committee.

We also know that this report produced 20 recommendations for the federal government. I was wondering if we could start exploring those recommendations, because that would really give the committee a hint of where we should concentrate and what kinds of topics we should think about.

I'd like to spend my time going through the recommendations one by one and maybe gathering your comments on them. It would be useful if you could tell us what's been done about the recommendations, or what hasn't been done. And if nothing's been done, could you just elaborate on why, what the barriers are, and why no action has been taken?

I am not sure if you have the recommendations in front of you, but I'll read them out. If you want me to repeat them, you may ask me to repeat them.

The first recommendation is as follows:

The Round Table recommends that the federal government accelerate conservation planning in two areas where unique opportunities exist to plan in advance of major industrial development. These areas are the Mackenzie Valley...and Canada's boreal forests.

3:55 p.m.

Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic Policy Branch, Department of the Environment

Michael Keenan

Do you want to go one by one?

I looked at that report a while ago. I think it's about eight years old or something. I would say one general thing about it. I think it was very valuable in terms of bringing a very important idea to the national conservation plan, which is the value of Canada's natural capital. I think it was the key sort of intellectual underpinning of the report.

As I recall, one of the most valuable things in it was that it got that idea in. That idea is sort of catching on now, but back in 2003 it was a concept that was just coming into the mainstream. The reason that's important is that implicit in the ideas behind a national conservation plan is a recognition of the incredible value of Canada's natural capital. It has value in and of itself, but it also has important economic value in the ecological goods and services that flow from it. You can see that in the Canadian boreal forest agreement, for example. It's a key underpinning principle.

Before we go recommendation by recommendation, there's an idea I wanted to give credence to, because I think it's a very important idea. You can see in a lot of the work that's been happening internationally and within Canada that the economic value of nature to our industry and to our way of life is now better understood. I think that's very positive.

In terms of conservation planning and the recommendation on the Mackenzie Valley, there's obviously been a tremendous, extensive environmental review of the Mackenzie Valley gas project since then. There has been a tremendous amount of work done on the part of the federal government.

I think the second part was on the boreal forests. There has been a significant advance through the Canadian boreal forest agreement. I would say that it is a landmark achievement. Twenty-one forest companies and nine environmental groups have come together to establish a vision for the value of Canada's boreal forests in terms of producing fibre, with jobs in sawmill towns across the country, and in terms of the broader ecological benefit of the boreal forest and all the benefits that flow from it, such as water purification, tourism, etc.

Interestingly enough, I would say that on that recommendation, you can see that there have been significant advances in both dimensions.

4 p.m.

NDP

Laurin Liu NDP Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC

That's good to hear--awesome.

Based on the length of that response, I'm guessing that we won't get through all 20 recommendations in seven minutes. I appreciate your response, and I would really appreciate if the witnesses would consider tabling with committee their reactions—I saw there were recommendations—and give us an idea of where we have gotten to in terms of reaching the goals of the recommendations. That would be really useful. Again, if you could, state what has been done and what hasn't been done. And if there are things that haven't been done, why?

We also know conservation. There are various ministers in federal bodies that are involved in conservation. I was wondering if you could list them for us.

4 p.m.

Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic Policy Branch, Department of the Environment

Michael Keenan

Sure, we would be happy to do that.

I should say one thing about the NRTEE report before we go off it. My memory of it is that as you go through the 20 recommendations, the price tag is quite high. It did have an idea of collaboration and partnership, but it was also proposing a fairly significant amount of new government spending in different areas. In that context at that time, it may be looked at in a certain way, but I think part of the national conservation plan challenge is to bring this national partnership together, but in a way that I would say fits the fiscal context of the time. That's an important interpretation point on the NRTEE point.

In terms of the federal bodies--

4 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Mark Warawa

Point of order?

4 p.m.

Conservative

Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Centre-North, AB

I'm also interested in how the report could align with our study, but if there is going to be a written response tabled, I'd ask that it be scoped within the confines of what our study will be approaching, which is the development of a national conservation plan.

4 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Mark Warawa

That is a good point. At this point, we don't have the framework. The witnesses are under no obligation at the request of any one member to provide any report. At this time, it may be a little premature.

If you wanted to continue on in your response to Ms. Liu's question.... Thank you.

4:05 p.m.

Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic Policy Branch, Department of the Environment

Michael Keenan

To pick up on the last question of the member, it is a very good point. It's one of these things one has to be very careful. Environment Canada is not the only federal agency involved in this activity. We have been working, and in the early stages it's very boring work. It's not something one brags about in public. We've been working with our federal colleagues to engage them, to get them excited, and to get them keen to participate in the development of the thinking and the options in the matrix of a national conservation plan.

For example, one thing we heard very clearly from the round table is to bring in all of the dimensions—the terrestrial, the marine, and the freshwater. In a federal context, Environment Canada has a key role to play. Natural Resources Canada has a key role to play. Fisheries and Oceans Canada has a particularly important role to play. Because of the importance of working landscape and the large amount of Canadian territory under cultivation, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada has a particularly important role to play. Because of the importance of engaging first nations as landowners and as stewards of the land, AANDC has a particularly important role to play.

We have been working in bringing together a sense of common purpose among federal departments. We have been quite pleased at the initial response. There is a sense that it's time to do something like this to bring all of the different parts together. Keeping the home team organized is sometimes a bit of a challenge, but we're fairly optimistic that we have a start on that.

4:05 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Mark Warawa

Thank you very much.

We have eight minutes and 41 seconds. Out of seven minutes, that's quite good.

Mr. Lunney, you have seven minutes.

4:05 p.m.

Conservative

James Lunney Conservative Nanaimo—Alberni, BC

Thank you very much.

I just want to start by saying that it is quite a remarkable accomplishment in the last number of years, the past six years, that 150,000 square kilometres have been added to the area designated as protected areas, as it were, and a 54% increase in Parks Canada's jurisdiction.

I don't know how many Canadians would actually know that we had the World Wildlife Fund International bestowing a Gift to the Earth Award to Parks Canada in 2011. I just don't know that many Canadians actually know about that. It seems to me that's a good-news story, expanding the Nahanni National Park six times.

There's a lot of interest in this national conservation plan. Although we've made some steps forward, we have a long way to go. We have a tremendous natural heritage here in Canada, with the huge geographic area we have.

To Parks Canada, I see you mentioned in your mandate here conserving, connecting, restoring ecosystems, and connecting with Canadians' hearts. I'm sure we're very interested in all of those areas and how they connect to this study we're doing.

I wanted to just talk about habitat for a minute, because habitat restoration is such an important part of the west coast, where I come from. You've done a lot of great habitat restoration work in the last 20 years on the coast. There was a major project in Parks Canada, Lost Shoe Creek, for example, where they worked with partners—in that case it was the Central Westcoast Forest Society—and worked up and down the coast with the Pacific Salmon Foundation. There was tremendous public support among stream keepers. Bringing them back stream by stream, of course, is the Pacific Salmon Foundation's motto.

We're talking about habitat restoration. How do you see that factoring into a national conservation strategy?