Evidence of meeting #49 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 areas.
A recording is available from Parliament.
4:05 p.m.
President, Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society
I would gladly reinforce some of the remarks that were made about the importance of river corridors and the importance of collaboration. Frankly, it's essential to all of our work across the country.
4:05 p.m.
Conservative
4:05 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Mark Warawa
Time has expired. Thank you.
Madame Quach, you have seven minutes.
4:05 p.m.
NDP
Anne Minh-Thu Quach NDP Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
My thanks to our witnesses for joining us today. I have a number of questions for you. I will start with Mr. Kent.
I have read the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society's report. In it, you mention a number of cuts in federal funding that have resulted in less scientific research and fewer oversight activities, which are essential.
Could you describe the impacts of those activities on urban conservation and tell us how the federal level could become involved in doing a better job with it?
4:05 p.m.
President, Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society
I think our general view is quite clear in the report we published last July. In it, we refer to the cuts affecting Canada as a whole.
We're certainly very concerned about an erosion of scientific expertise and of monitoring capability.
If we take those concerns and put them specifically in the concept of urban conservation, I think we need to recognize we're going to be dealing with extremely complex environments. We're dealing with environments that have already been degraded. We need to understand the implications of that, and we need to understand that improvements are going to be complex as well.
I remember when we were in the Rouge last summer. We were out in a natural area listening to a presentation about how they were restoring the natural vegetation, the plants and the trees and so forth, which are very interesting things to replant. Then I turned around and I looked at the new townhouse development being built right behind us. You sort of say, “Okay, this is going to be a very complicated business.” It's not that it can't be done, but it's going to take a much more complex kind of monitoring and more sophisticated science than a far northern area, which is much more coherent.
It's a bigger challenge, scientifically. The game has to be stepped up, frankly.
4:05 p.m.
NDP
Anne Minh-Thu Quach NDP Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC
What could the federal government do to make this complexity understood?
4:05 p.m.
President, Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society
I think that the Rouge national urban park is a laboratory that can show that the federal government is up to the task.
Beyond that, I don't think we have any specific suggestions in terms of urban science. I think we need to get a better understanding and better knowledge about dealing with these kinds of degraded environments and the potential for rebuilding, among other things, their wildlife.
4:05 p.m.
NDP
Anne Minh-Thu Quach NDP Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC
Do you think it is important to support scientists with more funding?
4:05 p.m.
NDP
Anne Minh-Thu Quach NDP Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC
Okay.
In your report, you also mentioned that the Dumoine River park should also include the old-growth forests adjacent. You say that a number of stretches of whitewater in Quebec could encourage ecotourism. You recommend extending the protected area, but, because of Bill C-45, there will be fewer and fewer protected rivers. There will only be 62 of them.
Do you think that the federal government should promote the development of protected zones, including the Dumoine River?
4:10 p.m.
President, Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society
The Dumoine River is not quite in an urban environment, but people from urban areas can have access to it. A lot of people from Ottawa do. I have gone down the Dumoine myself.
I think we need to think as well about watersheds within urban areas. I know there's work going on around the concept of
the Montreal Archipelago Ecological Park. I am not up to date on the details. But, in principle, it seems that it is an opportunity to accomplish, in the greater Montreal area, something similar to the Rouge national urban park.
4:10 p.m.
NDP
Anne Minh-Thu Quach NDP Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC
Thank you very much.
I also have a question for Mr. Penner.
You mentioned what the federal government could do, and what it was previously doing. You mentioned legislation to protect habitat and the Canadian Environmental Protection Act. But because of the two budget implementation acts, the Canadian Environmental Protection Act has been all but abolished.
Given that legislation, what could the federal government do in concrete terms to improve urban protection and conservation?
4:10 p.m.
City Naturalist, Naturalist Services, City of Winnipeg
In our experience with the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act and the Fisheries Act, we found they were very effective tools in terms of just providing a higher level of protection for, say, a major infrastructure project. As it's being planned, the engineers and everyone involved know that there is a concern, say, with a river or a stream bearing fish or something like that. It provides that level of awareness to the professionals who are putting a project plan together.
Because we don't have the bylaws within the city that can protect higher-level biological issues, having that at a federal level is pretty valuable to us.
4:10 p.m.
NDP
Anne Minh-Thu Quach NDP Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC
You are talking about making professionals aware, but, like Canadians, they would first have to be consulted, wouldn't they?
4:10 p.m.
City Naturalist, Naturalist Services, City of Winnipeg
I'm sorry; I didn't quite get the question.
4:10 p.m.
NDP
Anne Minh-Thu Quach NDP Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC
On the topic of environmental assessment, you are saying that infrastructure professionals should be made aware so they can plan their infrastructure projects. So the federal government should consult those professionals, the experts in that field, should they not?
4:10 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Mark Warawa
It would have to be a yes-or-no answer, because we're out of time.
4:10 p.m.
City Naturalist, Naturalist Services, City of Winnipeg
Yes. Obviously I think the government should be in contact and openly communicating with people of various expertise.
What I was trying to point to was that there needs to be something driving the planning of a major infrastructure project to know when there's something of ecological value that needs to be protected. Having an act that lays out the things that need to be protected is what can inform project planners of the value system of what they're looking at.
4:10 p.m.
Conservative
October 29th, 2012 / 4:10 p.m.
Conservative
Robert Sopuck Conservative Dauphin—Swan River—Marquette, MB
Thank you.
I think it's important to expand on what my colleague was saying and not leave the impression that the new Fisheries Act doesn't have any fisheries protections in it at all. The new section 35 is well worth a read, and the legal opinions are that on fish-bearing streams that are important to people—on the Red and Assiniboine in Winnipeg, which I know fairly well—the protections are actually strengthened.
I have a question for Ms. Minshall. Many on this committee want the national conservation plan to have a focus on working landscapes. I was very pleased with your emphasis on working landscapes.
Would you agree that this should be a focus of the national conservation plan, and why?
4:15 p.m.
Director, Water Management Plan, Grand River Conservation Authority
Just from a social perspective, people need to know them to value them. With so many people living in urban areas these days, if we want natural spaces to be valued, then people have to be able to get to them and they have to be there for them in the first place. That's a pretty obvious reason.
I think the other thing, though, is that.... I'm not an expert on this and I've probably done the same reading as everybody who's here, but it seems to be pretty clear from the science that there are pretty huge social benefits of people having access to natural spaces, in terms of their health, wellness, crime levels, and everything like that. When you want to talk about livable cities, I think it is a very important aspect, and this is not to take away from the protection of ecosystem integrity elsewhere.
4:15 p.m.
Conservative
Robert Sopuck Conservative Dauphin—Swan River—Marquette, MB
You talked about the agricultural work you're doing in your watershed. To me a farm is a working landscape. That's how I would refer to it. I was very impressed with the conservation activities you have taken on there.
Specifically, what successes have you achieved in the working landscape in your watershed, in terms of wetland conservation and restoration? How did you go about doing it?
4:15 p.m.
Director, Water Management Plan, Grand River Conservation Authority
In terms of conservation and restoration—
4:15 p.m.
Conservative
4:15 p.m.
Director, Water Management Plan, Grand River Conservation Authority
Wetlands in Ontario are set aside from development, although we can get isolated pockets.
We have been partnering with a large number of groups, including the Eastern Joint Habitat Venture, Ministry of Natural Resources in Ontario, and the habitat stewardship program, in order to restore particular areas, and some of the very large wetland complexes in the watershed are on the authority's acquisition list. They're fragmented in private ownership, and we've been trying to amass pieces of them together so that the bigger ones can actually be put back together eventually. That's the type of thing we've done.
