Environment Committee on April 28th, 2015

[Robert Sopuck, Conservative, Dauphin—Swan River—Marquette, MB]

Mr. Lowry, you talked about your organization's work with agricultural producers. It's a very sticky policy wicket to deal with in terms of conservation of wildlife on a privately owned farmed landscape. What advice would you have for the federal government in terms of policy related to conservation on the privately owned farmed landscape?

[Wayne Lowry]

The biggest thing that always seems to come up here is that there is some kind of compensation formula for landowners for these habitat preservation values that they have on their land. When we set up agreements with the landowners, and it's large tracts of land out there, it's purely voluntary. The landowners are often the best conservationists. They have a real connection to the land, and all we are doing is structuring that and helping direct it in favour of the habitat that's on their land.

[Robert Sopuck, Conservative, Dauphin—Swan River—Marquette, MB]

Mr. Crabbe, you mentioned predators being somewhat out of whack in terms of numbers. How do we go about restoring the balance? Do you think the public is ready for a significant predator control program to restore the balance of nature on the farmed landscape?

[Darrell Crabbe]

I think we have to have some additional education. Again, I talked about that 80% of the public. If you can convince them using good science that certain things need to be done, I think they will, absolutely. We are controlling so many of the aspects, and we are the changing factors in a lot of these populations, increases and decreases. If we are prepared to influence part of the process, that's not good enough. We have to be prepared to play our role in all of the different species. I certainly believe we have to increase those opportunities.

[The Chair, Conservative, Harold Albrecht]

Thank you.

I want to thank all of our committee members and give special thanks to our witnesses today. I don't think the average Canadian would recognize that Mr. Zealand, for example, had to be ready at his post at 5:45 a.m. For some of us from the farm background, that might...also, Mr. Lowry and Mr. Crabbe, at 6:45 a.m.

It is really great to see the sacrifices that you make for our country in your hunting and angling activities, but also in appearing early by video. We recognize we have saved a lot of dollars for the Canadian taxpayer, but we have also saved a lot of potential greenhouse gas emissions by not flying each of you here, and I want to thank you for that.

At this point, we are going to suspend for five minutes, and then we are going to reconvene. We have a couple of issues we would like to discuss in a session with the committee members.

Thank you again, all of you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Harold Albrecht]

[Inaudible—Editor]

[Megan Leslie, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Also, thanks for distributing this list of who is coming up on the agenda. That is great to know in advance.

I wanted to see if there is any agreement here about Thursday. Thursday is Senator Nolin's funeral. I know there are buses being organized so that parliamentarians can attend his funeral in Montreal, and that starts in the morning. It is regrettable because I see the witnesses who are on the list for Thursday and they look like great witnesses, but I wonder what the feeling of the committee is about not holding a meeting on Thursday to allow those of us who want to go to the funeral.

[The Chair, Conservative, Harold Albrecht]

I don't want to presume or speak to that issue. However, I do want to point out to the committee that we have May 7 slated for committee business. I personally don't see us taking more than 15 or 20 minutes of that time for committee business. My suggestion would be, if the committee agrees to Ms. Leslie's suggestion, that we could potentially ask our clerk to either move ahead some of the witnesses from this coming Thursday, or shift the two other groups that are still on the schedule—move the May 5 witnesses to May 7, and move the April 30 to May 5. We will leave this up to the clerk to arrange the best possible option.

That is speaking to the logistics, not to the issue. I just want to point out that there are possibilities, but I want committee members to feel free to discuss the issue.

Mr. McKay, go ahead.

[John McKay, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood, ON]

I'd so move.

That's fine. That sounds to me like a perfectly sensible suggestion.

[The Chair, Conservative, Harold Albrecht]

You move that we do not meet Thursday, and we ask our clerk to try to arrange the other committee and arrange to keep about a half an hour for committee business to give our analysts instructions for drafting our report. That's primarily the reason for the committee business.

Do I see general consensus on that one?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Chair, Conservative, Harold Albrecht]

I think we're all agreed. That's unanimous.

Thank you, Ms. Leslie, for raising that issue.

If there are no others, we'll declare this meeting adjourned.