CPAWS' approach on the issue of visitation, and what we have been encouraging Parks Canada to do, is to bring the Sable Island experience to people, and not people to Sable Island. It's a remote piece of geography and it's very difficult to get to. It's very sensitive.The overwhelming feeling, at least in Nova Scotia for the most part, is to leave it alone. In fact, when a national park was first proposed, the big concern in Nova Scotia was whether that was good enough and whether this would increase visitation.
What we're proposing that Parks Canada focus on is to develop off-island visitor experiences. This may be a state-of-the-art facility in downtown Halifax, or somewhere else in Nova Scotia, where people can go to learn about Sable Island and understand its rich cultural history and its natural history. This is essentially to take off the pressure of people wanting to go to the island. In addition to that, in concert with bringing this experience to the people on the mainland and perhaps through websites and virtual experiences as well, we would cap the number of visits to the island near current levels. Certainly, we would look to Parks Canada to assess this as part of their management plan, that is, what is a scientifically defensible carrying capacity for visitation to the island.