I would like to add to that answer.
In Laval in particular, although I think this situation can be extrapolated to other urban areas, the area is often divided into agricultural zones and zones where development is permitted. In agricultural zones, perhaps you can grow cranberries in peat bogs, but the wetlands situated in agricultural zones in Laval are protected in that they cannot be cultivated. Farmers often know that they are a water resource and therefore protect them.
The problem is the zones that can be developed that belong to promoters who want to develop them. If we tell them those wetlands must be protected, their response to us will be that we have to buy their land and that it would be worth $8 million if they had developed it. We are the Conseil régional de l'environnement; we do not have $8 million to buy their land.
Unfortunately, since the cities have power and there is no political will at the municipal level to protect those lands, the task is left to the individual. I believe there are not really any objectives, evaluations, criteria or monitoring at the national level, and an attempt should therefore be made to provide a framework for all that so that everyone does the same thing. For example, if the decision were made in Laval to protect the wetlands and to stop developing them, that would not be fair, relative to the Laurentides, which will continue to develop their wetlands for the next 30 years.
We have to try to achieve a fair, standard arrangement for everyone. That will be a challenge, of course, but a necessary one.