Thank you, Madam Chair and members of the committee.
Good afternoon. I would first like to thank you for inviting us today. We are pleased to support your interest in the government's efforts to protect our three oceans.
As you are aware, on June 8, 2016, as part of World Oceans Day celebrations, Ministers LeBlanc, McKenna and Bennett announced the government's five-point plan to meet its targets to increase marine and coastal protection to 5% by 2017 and 10% by 2020.
The background presentation circulated to you outlines how we will meet the targets and responds to several of the questions we were asked in advance of today’s session regarding the Government’s plan. You have also been provided with a written presentation to support my presentation today.
Before I outline the five elements of the plan, I would like to respond to many of your other questions regarding how we work with government partners, indigenous groups, marine industries, and others. To do so, let me take you on a quick tour of the country with a few examples of how we work with others.
In the Pacific, a major consultation was held in Richmond, B.C., in September to advance discussions about MPA, marine protected area, network development on the Pacific north coast to work towards identifying areas that will be protected by 2020.
In the Arctic, we held preliminary discussions with the co-management partners and local communities to gauge support for pursuing new sites in the Beaufort Sea by the 2020 target.
In the eastern Arctic, the department is meeting with Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated to discuss MPA establishment. This is an important step because MPAs will be subject to provisions in the land claim agreement. The department also worked with the INAC minister's special representative who will identify a new conservation target for the Arctic.
In the Newfoundland and Labrador shelves marine bioregion, we are discussing potential sites to support the 2020 target with the province's energy company, Nalcor Energy, with provincial officials and the fishing industry.
The department is consulting widely on the development of the MPA network on the Scotian Shelf which will produce two new MPA sites by 2020.
The department is also working closely with Quebec through the groupe bilatérale to advance MPA network development in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and to establish the proposed Banc des Américains MPA and possibly the proposed St. Lawrence Estuary MPA.
Nationally, we continue to engage with indigenous organizations, provinces and territories, conservation groups, and others.
Now I would like to outline the five areas of our plan under which all of this robust collaboration takes place.
My colleague from Environment and Climate Change Canada has explained the important contribution of the Scott Islands marine national wildlife area, and my colleague from Parks Canada has explained also the important contribution of the Lancaster Sound national marine conservation area to this element as the 5% and 10% contributions.
First, in addition to these two initiatives, we are advancing a suite of five proposed marine protected areas under the Oceans Act. They are Hecate Strait and Queen Charlotte Sound glass sponge reefs in the Pacific, Anguniaqvia niqiqyuam, also known as Darnley Bay in the Arctic, St. Anns Bank in the eastern Scotian Shelf, the Laurentian Channel in the Newfoundland-Labrador shelves, and Banc des Américains located in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
In addition to finishing what we started, we will also pursue the establishment of new large Oceans Act MPAs in pristine offshore areas. This is the second element of our plan. Large is considered to be more than 100,000 square kilometres.
Science is showing that there are benefits to protecting large pristine areas in a proactive and precautionary manner. While these areas are not currently facing significant pressures from human activities, the future interest in and future technological capability of marine industries to access offshore resources is likely.
Marine protection in such areas is a new avenue for Canada. Therefore, we are looking at international best practices from the United States, New Zealand, Australia, and the United Kingdom.
We will determine the exact location and size of these areas in consultation with our partners, indigenous groups, marine industries, and other stakeholders.
Through continued work to advance the MPA network in priority bioregions, we will establish additional Oceans Act MPAs in areas under pressure from human activities.
The international marine conservation target allows countries to count the contribution made to marine biodiversity by other effective area-based conservation measures that we call “other measures”. Our approach for this fourth pillar of our plan to “other measures” is based on the 2016 Canadian science advisory secretariat advice, and considers guidance from the Canadian Council on Ecological Areas under the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, IUCN, task force on “other measures”.
We are currently finalizing our science-based criteria to assess how current measures, such as fishery closures, contribute to biodiversity conservation and to meeting our targets. “Other measures” may also include certain area-based species at risk critical habitat, and they may include some indigenous and community conservation areas.
As you may be aware, on September 16, at the Our Ocean Conference in Washington, Parliamentary Secretary Serge Cormier announced two new fishery closures that protect sensitive benthic areas that are home to deep sea coral species. These closures, Corsair and Georges canyons and Jordan Basin, are located in the Scotian Shelf bioregion. There are currently no oil and gas activities in those two areas. These areas are only lightly fished due to their difficult terrain and depth.
We recognize that the MPA establishment process under the Oceans Act from start to finish often takes more than five years. Therefore, for the last element of our plan, we are exploring how the Oceans Act can be updated to speed up the designation process for marine protected areas without sacrificing sound decision-making.
We will also look at how to improve the act's ability to implement the precautionary approach while incorporating the best available science. We are looking to streamline the current MPA designation process to create process efficiencies.
Consultations on the proposed amendments to the Oceans Act are planned for later this fall, with a view to tabling a draft bill in the spring of 2017.
Once again, thank you for the opportunity to provide this briefing on the Government’s plan to meet its marine conservation targets.
We are pleased to respond to any questions you may have.