Environment Committee on May 15th, 2019

[Niall O'Dea]

I'm happy to speak to that—and Michael, feel free to add.

I spoke briefly in my remarks to the pathway to Canada target 1 process, which is a federal, provincial, territorial, indigenous exercise to look at, in part, precisely that question, to provide guidance that would be shared across Canada about what counted or not towards our 17% target. In that context, we've developed shared Canadian guidance in the “One with Nature” report that's now available online. That sets out the definitions for protected areas, for other effective area-based conservation measures and for indigenous protected and conserved areas.

Likely your question is most focused on that middle category, which is the other effective area-based conservation measures. This is looking at working landscapes whose primary purpose may not be for biodiversity conservation, but as a result of the way they're managed, they result in biodiversity conservation outcomes.

A key example that we've established recently in partnership with the Department of National Defence is CFB Shilo in Manitoba. That's a site where DND operations have for a long time taken pains to ensure biodiversity conservation in the large areas of that base that are not regularly used for training operations. That area is now a contributor to Canada target 1.

[Wayne Stetski, NDP, Kootenay—Columbia, BC]

You say you're comfortable with the criteria. Was it drawn from the IUCN? I used to work with Manitoba Parks. I know where Shilo is for sure.

[Niall O'Dea]

Okay. I hope it meets your standard as well.

[Wayne Stetski, NDP, Kootenay—Columbia, BC]

On target 1, is it both lands and marine proposals, or is it strictly land for this target 1 proposal that closed recently?

[Niall O'Dea]

For the challenge funding, the focus is terrestrial and fresh water. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans is making significant investments in its own regard for marine-protected areas, as is Parks Canada.

[Michael Nadler]

MP Stetski, to respond a bit as well to your first question, as we know from the experience at Rouge national park, as we are learning in consultations near your riding in Osoyoos around South Okanagan, it is possible to achieve conservation gains even when the land is being used for other purposes, like ranching or farming in Rouge national park. These other conservation measures are effective, we're learning, and we're finding our approaches of conservation as a consequence.

We're advancing a number of marine initiatives right now. In fact, we just recently signed an MOU with the Inuit of the Baffin region—the Qikiqtani Inuit Association—and the Government of Nunavut on a feasibility assessment for a significant marine-protected area in the High Arctic, this area of the last ice, which would contribute significantly to the targets.

[Wayne Stetski, NDP, Kootenay—Columbia, BC]

There were two groups set up to run proposals through. I guess that might be one way of putting it. One was a sort of NGO group, and the other was an indigenous group. How are those groups being used as part of establishing the 10% and 17%?

[Niall O'Dea]

There's a national advisory panel, which would be the NGO-led group, and as well the indigenous circle of experts. Both groups have produced reports that have been foundational to the work we are currently undertaking; they provided advice that fed into the production of the “One with Nature” report that I previously referred to. In particular, the indigenous circle of experts was a significant contributor to the definitions of indigenous protected and conserved areas that exist within the “One with Nature” report.

We have also continued to receive advice and input—not from those groups in that form, because they were disbanded once those particular activities were concluded, but from the membership of those groups—concerning approaches to developing indigenous protected and conserved areas within Canada and the further elaboration of that concept, as well as with respect to partnering effectively with foundations to provide support to new protected and conserved areas that are proposed as part of our Canada nature fund.

[Michael Nadler]

The committee shouldn't underestimate its own influence, though. Your own report helped us to shape many of these concepts too. We truly appreciate your work in that area.

[Wayne Stetski, NDP, Kootenay—Columbia, BC]

The other concern we had was whether staffing levels would keep up or expand along with the work. How are things happening with staffing in your organization?

[Niall O'Dea]

I'm happy to speak to the Canadian wildlife service context. It's been a very busy year since the funding we received through budget 2018. We're expecting a growth of roughly 200 FTEs to support the initiative and have made rapid progress to staff up those positions.

[Wayne Stetski, NDP, Kootenay—Columbia, BC]

Is that collectively with Parks Canada?

[Michael Nadler]

Parks Canada has a separate allocation of $220.8 million over five years; that's for restoring some capacity that had been reduced in past years.

Also, as we've been observing collectively in this meeting, the targets themselves and the Aichi commitments are changing the way we view connectivity and biodiversity, and management in that space requires new skills and new abilities and new approaches. We're therefore bringing in capacity to work on connectivity and collaboration across jurisdictions on biodiversity and broadly on conserving landscapes, rather than individual places.

[Wayne Stetski, NDP, Kootenay—Columbia, BC]

Excellent.

[The Chair, Liberal, John Aldag]

Now we're going to move over to Mr. Fisher for his round of questions.

[Darren Fisher, Liberal, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, and thanks, folks. I appreciate as always your being here to give us an update.

Niall, you mentioned our unanimous report. That report is something that I think we're quite proud of. Mr. Nadler, you mentioned the impact that report had on bringing forth the $1.3 billion investment. It's incredible.

Our committee worked very hard on that report, and we had a high level of support from former municipal politicians. One recommendation that I and probably my colleagues—who are no longer on the committee, with the exception of Mr. Stetski—were really proud of was the recommendation that the federal government partner directly with municipalities.

Niall, you mentioned Blue Mountain-Birch Cove Lakes. That gives me a chance to come, of course, to one of my favourite topics—

[Mike Bossio, Liberal, Hastings—Lennox and Addington, ON]

I never heard that before.

[Darren Fisher, Liberal, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

—when we're thinking about the quick start program, thinking about the nature legacy, thinking about the nature fund and their huge investments in protected spaces. Again, going back to partnering with municipalities, we had the $860,000 for Blue Mountain-Birch Cove Lakes.

Do you have any other examples of relationships or new partnerships with municipalities that have resulted in protected spaces?

[Niall O'Dea]

It's a good question. I may ask my colleague Mark to speak a little bit to it.

Blue Mountain-Birch Cove Lakes was certainly a key one, an opportunity to partner with the Halifax Regional Municipality to protect the 135 critical hectares of urban wilderness.

Another initiative I can speak to is our efforts to have municipal protected areas recognized as such for the value that they provide. In a recent data intake for the contributions to Canada target 1, we've seen a number of municipalities in both Alberta and B.C. identify parks within their municipal boundaries that make that contribution.

Those have been two key aspects. Rouge is another key example.

Maybe, Michael, you want to speak a little bit to that.

[Michael Nadler]

As part of the journey in our work on all the biodiversity targets, in collaboration across three levels of government and with indigenous communities and others, an important takeaway is to recognize the high level of excellence that municipalities apply to conservation. We've all learned a lot, actually, from having municipalities that are able to balance multiple uses and still achieve significant conservation gains within their boundaries. Blue Mountain is just one example of many.

[Darren Fisher, Liberal, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

Another example is Kejimkujik National Park, another area of land that is beloved in Nova Scotia, and very beloved to my constituents as well. Recently I heard about the chain pickerel getting into the park system, eating the Keji brook trout, the Blanding's turtles, the ribbonsnakes and so on.

Mr. Nadler, what does Parks Canada do to ensure the protection of ecological integrity of these protected areas when something such as this happens?

[Michael Nadler]

I can speak generically and then specifically on that, though you might have seen some of the recent media coverage on the file.

Ecological integrity is fundamental to every decision made at Parks Canada. It's rooted in our legislation. It's actually rooted in the agency's establishment, too. Even the legislation establishing Parks Canada as an agency makes clear reference to the importance of ecological and commemorative integrity in the management of our protected places. It permeates all aspects of decision-making and policy-making in the agency and is our focus in the management of every national park.

That circumstance is a really compelling example of the types of challenges we're facing that simply can't be solved within our own boundaries. We need to work with multiple jurisdictions and players to address and respond to that challenge.

There are some initiatives that we're undertaking ourselves. You might have seen that we're separating off an area in Keji so we can try to restore species that are being out-competed by this invasive pickerel. It's a really aggressive invasive species and a real threat to the ecological integrity of the aquatic area of the entire park.

[Darren Fisher, Liberal, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

Our government is doing a whole lot of things to combat climate change. What impact does this massive investment in protected areas have on mitigating climate change?

[Niall O'Dea]

MP Fisher, I'm happy to speak to that.

It's interesting. There was a recent report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that spoke to the contributions that nature-based solutions can make to climate change and attributed some 37% of the climate mitigation solution potentially existing in the preservation and enhancement of our existing natural environment. Those are things such as conserving wetlands, peatlands and forests, which represent some of the most significant carbon stores currently on the planet, and then can also help with climate adaptation, ensuring the resilience of watersheds, as well as the resilience of coastlines to coastal erosion and things of that nature.

There are many contributions that nature can make to climate, and of course, preserving a stable climate system is critical, particularly to the protection of species at risk.

[Darren Fisher, Liberal, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

Do I have 10 seconds?

If we didn't have that recommendation to partner with municipalities, would places such as Blue Mountain Birch-Cove be able to expand as they did?