Environment Committee on May 29th, 2014

[The Chair, Conservative, Harold Albrecht]

Thanks.

[Stephen Woodworth, Conservative, Kitchener Centre, ON]

Do I have time left?

[The Chair, Conservative, Harold Albrecht]

You do. You have about one minute and three seconds.

[Stephen Woodworth, Conservative, Kitchener Centre, ON]

Thank you.

Could you tell us a little bit about the Lake Simcoe-Georgian Bay cleanup? There is some money going into that this year. What is this new money going to be used for? Why is the government injecting such significant amounts into the Great Lakes cleanup efforts?

[Bob Hamilton]

This is the Lake Simcoe-southeastern Georgian Bay cleanup fund. It used to be the Lake Simcoe fund and it was expanded to include southeastern Georgian Bay. A lot of that money goes to community-based projects. We look at things like how to reduce phosphorus inputs. It's part of a continuing effort that we had with Lake Simcoe, and we've expanded it to southeastern Georgian Bay. It's really trying to come at issues not unlike we talked about earlier, the Great Lakes nutrients initiative. It's trying to look at projects that can come up with solutions to those problems.

[Stephen Woodworth, Conservative, Kitchener Centre, ON]

Very good.

I should say we did hear evidence at the Great Lakes water quality study hearings from people who were describing the changing challenges in Georgian Bay. I'm very glad that your department is alive to that and is responding to that.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Harold Albrecht]

Thank you, Mr. Woodworth.

We move now to Mr. Bevington, for seven minutes.

[Dennis Bevington, NDP, Western Arctic, NT]

Thank you, Mr. Chair, you're very generous.

[The Chair, Conservative, Harold Albrecht]

Thank you. Enjoy it while you can.

[Dennis Bevington, NDP, Western Arctic, NT]

Okay.

Thanks to all the witnesses here, of course. I'm pleased that you're here to talk to us.

Mr. Latourelle, we've had a number of commitments in the Northwest Territories to expand national parks. What has been the global expansion of the national parks budget in the Northwest Territories?

[Alan Latourelle]

I can speak specifically...for example, we have what we call a northern model. When we establish a new national park in northern Canada, the Government of Canada has been investing $1.4 million ongoing for this new park, between $1.4 and $1.6 million. In the Nahanni expansion, which I'll use as a practical example, there's an $1.4 million additional annual investment in Parks Canada to manage that expansion, plus close to $5 million in terms of the capital infrastructure for that park. For each new national park, we get additional funding that's allocated to us. It doesn't affect our existing budget or existing programs.

[Dennis Bevington, NDP, Western Arctic, NT]

How much of that $5 million that was promised has been spent? I think it was almost six years ago when Minister Prentice wrote me a letter promising me that money would be spent on capital facilities.

[Alan Latourelle]

The money that's been spent so far is about $224,000, but I'll explain why. We don't just go out and put infrastructure as we feel is required from a Parks Canada perspective only. We work, in this case, for example, with the community, in terms of the cooperative management body we have. It's the cooperative management body that identifies where we should be spending or investing those resources. But the $5 million is still going to be invested.

[Dennis Bevington, NDP, Western Arctic, NT]

Are you augmenting the $5 million? Over the last seven years, the price of construction of facilities in the north has gone through the roof. If you're talking about $5 million that was earmarked in 2007, what are you going to get for that in 2014? You're talking almost 10 years by the time you start building. The inflation in capital buildings is enormous in western Canada. So you're still sticking with that $5-million figure?

[Alan Latourelle]

Mr. Chair, when we establish a new national park, we never spend the full amount the first year. The information that was provided at that time by the minister—the $5 million—was the investment, not in year one. It takes a period of time because we work with the community, and the community works with us, to decide where to invest.

[Dennis Bevington, NDP, Western Arctic, NT]

The point is that you have certain things you have to build with that money. In 2007, $5 million was earmarked for a new office building in Fort Simpson, a suboffice building in Nahanni Butte, neither of which has been done. It's going to be 10 years before you actually build. How is that $5 million going to handle the work that you have to do in those two capital facilities?

[Alan Latourelle]

Well, I'll just use Fort Simpson as a very practical example. We could have gone on our own, spent $5 million, and built the building year one. I think what we're doing is the prudent responsible thing. We're working with the community to jointly deliver together and develop a new facility. The Government of Canada put its money forward, and then the community matches their funding and we have a new building that's occupied by both. That's the approach we've taken there based on the community consultation.

[Dennis Bevington, NDP, Western Arctic, NT]

With the commitment for the new national park, what's the capital commitment there?

[Alan Latourelle]

The funding will be very similar. I can get you the exact numbers for that specific park.

[Dennis Bevington, NDP, Western Arctic, NT]

Right.

How is the progress on the East Arm national park?

[Alan Latourelle]

There's been a lot of progress. We're working with the GNWT to work together to identify what the proposed boundaries are for consultation. We have an agreement in principle with the Dene and we are starting the consultation with the Métis of the GNWT.

[Dennis Bevington, NDP, Western Arctic, NT]

Further to that, within the whole national park structure in the Northwest Territories, are you actively engaged now in a larger project to bring tourism into the area? We have these very large national parks that are occupying a great deal of the space of the Northwest Territories and there needs to be economic benefit returning to the people of the north.

[Alan Latourelle]

There are economic benefits. The last study that was done in 2008-09 showed $53 million in economic benefits for the three territories as a result of our national parks. What we're doing now, though, is putting more emphasis on—I call it unleashing the economic potential of our national parks up north.

We have new partnerships with the GNWT government, for example, and with the airline industry, because one of the challenges that we heard from visitors is how to plan a visit from Toronto, for example, to Ivvavik. We're working with the airline industry and having full package tours, so people leaving from Toronto can get right there and get services on site by the local community.

[Dennis Bevington, NDP, Western Arctic, NT]

Those are my questions on national parks and I thank you for your answers.

I appreciate the work that national parks does in the north, but I am concerned that the investment amounts that you've identified are simply not going to be adequate for the future, that they're not going to do the job that we need to see for the investment that the indigenous people of the north have made by agreeing to these large tracts of land being turned over for the good of the people of Canada. That has to be recognized and it has to be properly funded. We can't have this shortfall going on forever.

[Alan Latourelle]

I want to be clear, Mr. Chair, that from our perspective there is not a shortfall. But I think there has been a shortfall, to be frank, in that I think we haven't been as aggressive as we could have been in terms of economic development in the area. We are dealing with that now.