Evidence of meeting #63 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.
9:40 a.m.
NDP
François Choquette NDP Drummond, QC
My next question concerns funds allocated to CIDA to fight climate change.
In this case also, I would like to know whether there is accountability. Are we in a position to ensure that that money is truly being used to fight climate change?
9:40 a.m.
Conservative
Peter Kent Conservative Thornhill, ON
I think that all of our investments in climate change, both on the mitigation side, as well as in terms of adaptation, are indeed proving to be effective. As I say regularly during question period, whenever I have the occasion, climate change is a global challenge which requires a global solution. Canada is quite willing to do its part to address the 2% of annual GHGs, for example, that are generated, but we have to work internationally to convince—
9:40 a.m.
NDP
François Choquette NDP Drummond, QC
I understand you well, Mr. Minister. Forgive me for interrupting you, but I would like to know to what extent Environment Canada is controlling the ultimate destination of this funding.
9:40 a.m.
Conservative
9:40 a.m.
Conservative
Peter Kent Conservative Thornhill, ON
As you know, our commitment was $1.2 billion, over a three-year period. Canada, like many other countries, did not have the capacity to identify programs immediately, but we wanted to work. In the first year, a large amount of that money went to international financial institutions to disburse on the climate change file. In years two and three, and particularly this year, we have been able to identify specific projects, whether in Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, or Asia, which we are now targeting and overseeing. Many of these programs will continue for the next two or three years. They're not single-year programs.
I could provide you with a list of those programs, if you wish.
9:40 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Harold Albrecht
I think we'll have to wait for that provision because your time is up.
Mr. Kent, you've agreed to give us one hour. We're very close to that.
Are you willing to take one more question?
9:40 a.m.
Conservative
James Lunney Conservative Nanaimo—Alberni, BC
I have three good questions here, Mr. Chair. Let's boil it down to one.
In your remarks, Minister, you did mention the $24 million in funding for the Nature Conservancy—my colleague Bob mentioned that just a moment ago—to help them continue in their important work to help secure ecologically sensitive lands and protect our diverse ecosystems.
The question I have, really, is on the increased contributions in support of sustainable ecosystems in the new statutory appropriations listed here in relation to the Nature Conservancy. Is that related to the national conservation plan that was announced in the Speech from the Throne, and can you give us some idea at what stage the planning for the national conservation plan might be?
9:45 a.m.
Conservative
Peter Kent Conservative Thornhill, ON
Sure. Thank you. Certainly as we continue to work, and this committee has considered the national conservation plan, I would think that the Nature Conservancy of Canada would play a part in that eventual larger plan, as would any number of other potential partners and agencies, again with Environment Canada, with Parks Canada. As we come closer to actually striking the actual framework for the national conservation plan, certainly the Nature Conservancy of Canada will be one of the considered stakeholders.
9:45 a.m.
Conservative
9:45 a.m.
Conservative
James Lunney Conservative Nanaimo—Alberni, BC
Bonus.
Since 2006 we've seen a tremendous expansion in parklands available. I remember an announcement about the Nahanni National Park being expanded, and the Great Bear Rainforest on the west coast, which is kind of iconic out in our side of the world. There's, on the eastern side of the Great Slave Lake, Ramparts River, and there's the Gwaii Haanas National Park, which is huge, on the west coast. There's the Rouge National Urban Park, the first urban park here. And in your remarks you mentioned, collectively,150,000 square kilometres added to the parks system. And again there's what was just mentioned with the Nature Conservancy, about 338,000 hectares of working landscape being recovered.
These project, we're pretty excited about. I think committee members are very interested in this. Recently our committee's been looking at urban parks, and we're hearing a lot about nature deficit disorder, about the disconnect between urban dwellers.... Increasingly about 80% of our population lives in cities. The experiences with nature are diminishing as kids are more into electronic gadgets and so on. One of the projects that we heard about is Parks Canada experimented with providing passes for kids in grade 8, I think.
But I'm wondering, if we're looking ahead to the national conservation plan, are we looking at strategies of how we can encourage young people in particular, who particularly may be coming from our immigrant communities, to have positive experiences with nature? Because we certainly understand that there are tremendous benefits to all of us, as Canadians, personally and in terms health benefits, when we appreciate nature by interacting with it positively.
9:45 a.m.
Conservative
Peter Kent Conservative Thornhill, ON
Absolutely. That is a large part of the thinking behind the creation of the Rouge National Urban Park on the very outskirts of the Greater Toronto Area. It's also a big part of Parks Canada's very successful program, learn to camp, where across the country for the last couple of years, young people and their families, many new Canadians—who associate tents most often with refugee circumstances—are encouraged to leave the urban centres, where very often they first arrive in Canada, and to experience the great Canadian outdoors.
We're hoping that the Rouge Park—and even now it's available for camping—when it is completed as Canada's first urban national park will be accessible to fully 20% of the Canadian population, young people. It's the only national park where public transit will allow students to come to interpretation centres, to interact with nature, and we hope it will be used as a springboard to visit some of our more remote parks, traditional parks like Banff and Jasper but also the Nahanni, the Nááts'ihch'oh, Gros Morne, and Torngat. We have legislation, as you know before the Senate now, to create a national park on Sable Island off Nova Scotia.
9:45 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Harold Albrecht
You still have a couple seconds, but just in the interest of Minister Kent's time I want to cut it off there.
Thank you again, Minister Kent, for appearing. We're going to have a two-minute recess to allow Mr. Kent to leave and then we have the hour to continue with the officials.
9:50 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Harold Albrecht
We will ask our witnesses to take their places, and also our committee members, please, so we can proceed.
We want to welcome our new guests at the witness table, Carol Najm and Mr. Hanson. Welcome to the committee today.
We are going to proceed with our committee question list. Mr. Pilon is next on our list.
Mr. Pilon, you have five minutes, please.
9:50 a.m.
NDP
François Pilon NDP Laval—Les Îles, QC
Good morning. I thank our witnesses for being here with us.
In his presentation, Mr. Kent referred to “$4.2 million to renew the Lake Winnipeg Bassin Initiative” and “$4.1 million to go towards the implementation of the Great Lakes Nutrient Initiative.” However, we know that the budget for the Experimental Lakes Area was abolished. Can someone explain the rationale behind that government decision?
9:50 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Harold Albrecht
Mr. Pilon, did you direct that to a specific person?
Go ahead, Mr. Hamilton.
9:50 a.m.
Deputy Minister, Department of the Environment
I am going to answer the question you just asked.
Before I do that, just to finish on the last session we had, there was an outstanding question. Can I take that one very quickly?
9:50 a.m.
Conservative
9:50 a.m.
Deputy Minister, Department of the Environment
Okay, but I will come back to give some more information on that.
On the issue of Lake Winnipeg, I can't really respond to the government's decision about experimental lakes versus this. What I can respond to is where we provide money for areas like Lake Winnipeg and like the Great Lakes.
I think, as the minister indicated, it's to try to address environmental issues that have arisen in the ecosystems around those lakes. We've had the renewal of the Lake Winnipeg funding and, as the minister said, we have signed an agreement with the Unites States on the Great Lakes to improve the water quality, address nutrient issues, and various other issues.
In terms of trade-offs that governments make about what programs get funded and what programs get cut, I won't respond to that. Just suffice it to say that on those areas and the areas related to the main estimates, we are contributing significant funding to try to address the important.... There are issues of water quality that we find in those lakes.