Environment Committee on Oct. 15th, 2012

[Bob Hamilton]

Okay, let me take a run at this.

To answer the question indirectly for the moment, my main responsibility obviously is to run the Department of the Environment and to make sure that the advice we provide is top quality, well thought through, and looks at things from all angles. In that regard, and leading into this question, I'm pleased that within the department, a number of people who have a lot more knowledge and experience about technical and scientific matters of climate change and what causes it and what doesn't cause it are working away.

One can observe whether the climate is changing. One can construct models about where it might be going. Different predictions can have different probabilities associated with them. However, I do feel that we have the people within Environment Canada, in addition to a number of other people around the world, to enable us to provide sound advice on policies of adaptation to climate change, and how we might mitigate climate change.

I view that as my job. Whatever my personal belief might be, I will endeavour to provide advice to the minister and to the government on what I believe is our best estimate of what's going on and what I believe is our best policy going forward. Then of course the government has the ability to take that advice with other advice and do what it will with it.

To assure the committee, if you're looking at my appointment, I've had a number of instances in my career, for example, in the tax area, and I'm not sure anybody would call me a tax expert, but I was able to do some good work with a number of people who know the tax system more intimately than I do. I would relate that to Environment Canada here. Whether it's on the issue of climate change, on the issue of weather prediction—which I'm also not an expert in—I think I know how to corral the resources we have within the department to provide the best advice I can to the government, and that's what I intend to do.

[Megan Leslie, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Thanks very much, I look forward to it.

I'm going to share the rest of my time with Madame Quach.

[The Chair, Conservative, Mark Warawa]

Very good. You have three and a half minutes.

[Anne Minh-Thu Quach, NDP, Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I want to thank the two witnesses for coming to talk about their background and their expertise in managing the two areas under their responsibility.

Mr. Latourelle, given your position as policy manager and your background in financial management, how are you able to meet the mandates of protecting and giving concrete examples of national interest in terms of heritage? You know that cuts were made to funding for national historic sites, this summer. Guides were replaced with information panels and, in places like Ottawa, with iPads.

How can we maintain the mandate to protect historic sites and promote them while firing the people who have the most experience in raising Canadians' awareness regarding those two mandates? Cuts have been made in the area of tourism and educational activities, like those provided at the Montreal Biosphere, which is the only museum in North America with awareness-raising activities. As your decisions—

[The Chair, Conservative, Mark Warawa]

You have a point of order, Ms. Rempel?

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Centre-North, AB]

Mr. Chair, I believe at the start of this meeting you read out the entirety of Standing Order 111.1, which talked about the scope of discussions to be held today with regard to the review of order in council appointments. I'd like to have my colleague opposite reminded of that scope in directing her questions to Mr. Latourelle.

[The Chair, Conservative, Mark Warawa]

Are there any other speakers to the point of order?

Madame Quach.

[Anne Minh-Thu Quach, NDP, Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC]

With all due respect, Mr. Chair and Ms. Rempel, I want to point out that Mr. Latourelle is in charge of managing activities, financial operations and cuts at Parks Canada. People have to come up with a strategy that will help them promote those very activities at national historic sites. This is actually a very relevant question to which I would like to have an answer.

[The Chair, Conservative, Mark Warawa]

I see no other speakers to the point of order.

The questions regarding cuts, policies, and action plans regarding Parks Canada are not in the very narrow scope of the questioning. The questioning must relate directly to the qualifications of the people for the appointment.

That could be for a future discussion, if the committee so decided, but today I encourage Madame Quach to keep her questioning focused on qualifications.

[Anne Minh-Thu Quach, NDP, Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC]

I will rephrase my question.

Mr. Latourelle, how do you use current activities to meet your mandate of protecting and providing concrete examples related to Canada's natural heritage?

[Alan Latourelle]

For 100 years, Parks Canada has been using various approaches. An evolution has been taking place over time. Nowadays, technology provides us with new opportunities in some cases. Our objective is to ensure that each activity Parks Canada puts forward meets both the objective of conservation and of presentation.

When people visit us, we want to inspire them, teach them about Canadian history and Canada's exceptional sites through the Parks Canada team. That team is not made up of only interpretive guides or employees involved in conservation. It also includes visitors' experience. So all our team members' interactions benefit those people.

[Anne Minh-Thu Quach, NDP, Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC]

So interactions with people are important.

[Alan Latourelle]

Interactions happen at all levels. Different strategies have been used over the years. We have various sites that have had interpretation issues in some form or another.That has been a reality at Parks Canada for almost 100 years.

[Anne Minh-Thu Quach, NDP, Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC]

Could you tell us more about the types of interactions that have been put forward to diversify and enhance the visitor's experience?

[Alan Latourelle]

Parks Canada does not operate in a vacuum. That agency looks at what is happening at museums or other institutions whose mandate is similar to its own to learn about new technologies and communication approaches, while taking into account its own financial reality.

[Anne Minh-Thu Quach, NDP, Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC]

Okay.

Have you assessed the economic impacts of those various types of interactions or various communication methods—such as interactions with people or interactions where emphasis is placed on technology—to determine what would be more effective?

[Alan Latourelle]

We obviously look at other people's experiences, be it in terms of conservation, visitor experience or education. Innovations have been made in all components of Parks Canada, but we also learn from others. We look at what is happening in the market—for instance, when it comes to communicating messages and various ways to do that. We also look at the most visited sites so that we can increase our presence there during the summer, when we receive the most visitors. That approach is used not only by Parks Canada, but also by most heritage institutions.

[Anne Minh-Thu Quach, NDP, Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC]

What is the most effective approach?

[The Chair, Conservative, Mark Warawa]

Your time has expired. Thank you so much.

Our next questioner is Mr. Woodworth. You have seven minutes.

[Stephen Woodworth, Conservative, Kitchener Centre, ON]

Thank you very much.

Thank you very much for joining us. Welcome.

I want to start with a dumb question, if I may, to Mr. Hamilton. I'm never afraid to ask dumb questions, so I can understand it.

You were previously appointed, I think, with Environment Canada from 2009 to 2011. I'm not sure if that was as an associate deputy minister or assistant deputy minister. If you would tell me which one it was and what the difference is between that position and the one to which you are now appointed, I would appreciate it.

[Bob Hamilton]

Certainly. I have been asked a few times the difference between an associate deputy minister and an assistant deputy minister. In my previous incarnation at Environment Canada I was the associate deputy minister. At Environment Canada there are basically two positions in the deputy minister's office: the deputy minister himself or herself and the associate deputy minister. They run the organization essentially as a team.

Different departments use different models, depending on the people, but you can think of those two people running the department. That structure would be found in any department across Ottawa.

In contrast to that, if you look at what an assistant deputy minister does, he or she tends to be involved in a particular branch of a department. In our case we would have an assistant deputy minister for the science and technology branch, another one for environmental stewardship, etc. They tend to be more line operators reporting up.

Briefly, in my previous incarnation as an associate deputy minister, the role was to help the deputy minister. If there was a very important file for the department, we would both be involved to some degree. With other files, one or the other would take the lead, but we would always work together as a team, each knowing at least a little bit about what's happening on every file.

That was the difference there. This time I have come back and I am the deputy.

[Stephen Woodworth, Conservative, Kitchener Centre, ON]

I get the picture. As an associate deputy minister you would be in a good position to observe and learn all there is to learn about what the deputy minister was doing. Is that correct?

[Bob Hamilton]

Yes, that's right.

It can be a very good learning and training opportunity, getting to see the files that come through from the deputy minister's office.

[Stephen Woodworth, Conservative, Kitchener Centre, ON]

Am I correct that you held that position from January 2009 through to March 2011?

[Bob Hamilton]

Yes, that's right.