There are a lot of important statutes, but regulations serve more to promote the sustainable use of resources. In addition to the protection of species, protected areas and so on, the sustainable use of resources is a very important component. We must ensure that the land's natural resources are managed in a manner that is respectful of our environment, and various statutes are important for that purpose. The act governing fish habitat is very important. We are concerned about maintaining that act, which helps preserve not only fish, but also fish habitat and the quality of the various waterways and marine environments. The Species at Risk Act is also very important. There are very important consultation processes concerning the various recovery programs implemented by Environment Canada. It is essential that those recovery programs be implemented, but greater effort must be made to implement them and to give the Species at Risk Act even more teeth.
The environmental assessment process is also very important. There are a lot of mining and energy development projects, such as oil projects in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and in western Canada. We want to exploit those resources, which often are non-renewable and have considerable impact on the environment. It is essential to ensure that the environmental assessment procedure for those projects is taken into consideration, together with the cumulative impact of those projects. We must find a way to assess projects on a case-by-case basis, but also have an idea of the overall impact of all those activities on the host environment, waterways and land environments. We believe these are the main essential points that must be addressed.