The important thing to look at is the model, and I think the partnership model is one that works.
If you look at the North American waterfowl management plan and the partnerships it brings to the table in terms of leveraging money from different interested parties into the land, that's a working model that has produced tangible results, certainly since the mid-1980s. That's a fact that was acknowledged by the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development about a year and a half ago in the commissioner's report.
The national conservation plan programming has been very well received so far. In fact, certainly on the wetland conservation fund, the program is completely oversubscribed.
You asked what is required. We would suggest more money going into that particular program is required. It's being driven by demand. There are many, many landowners and many conservation groups out there who would like to participate in that program, but there simply aren't enough funds to have the kind of impact that could be had through the full expression of that activity.
You asked about policy. Certainly the federal government has a long-standing federal wetland policy, which we think merits taking another look at. It was created by the federal government in 1991, and the operational principles were established in 1996. It's a good policy. We think there's an opportunity for the federal government to show leadership with its provincial counterparts. We'd like to see effective wetland policies in every jurisdiction in Canada, backed by legislation and regulation.
We'd like to see habitat loss mitigation sequences in place in every province and territory. There is some very good legislation on the books in the Atlantic provinces right now, and certainly steps are being taken in other provinces to get to a point where habitat loss is being addressed and offset. Certainly Alberta has a new policy, and I know that Manitoba is working on a policy as well. But the policies are not the same across the country, and that's certainly an issue.