Evidence of meeting #33 for Environment and Sustainable Development in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was parks.
A recording is available from Parliament.
1:45 p.m.
Senior Vice-President, Operations, Parks Canada Agency
There was—sorry—and there is, under—
1:45 p.m.
NDP
Brian Masse NDP Windsor West, ON
What can you release to us publicly about the draft plan's provisions to consult with Parliament on a regular basis, compared to the current process for national urban parks or urban parks in general? I know what we have in law and what has to happen and what has to come back to us in this building, but what I'm looking for is how your contemplated plan compares. Can you share any of that? Nobody knows that right now.
1:45 p.m.
Vice-President, Protected Areas Establishment and Conservation, Parks Canada Agency
This is a new program, and we're operating under a draft policy. However, we envision, similar to all our programs, that there will be management plans that will be tabled in Parliament. As the national urban parks program will be under the agency, we'll be doing our normal reports to Parliament—our corporate priorities and our reports.
1:45 p.m.
NDP
Brian Masse NDP Windsor West, ON
I'm sorry, but I'm pretty passionate about this because I'm worried about Ojibway Shores right now and the entire continuity that's at risk. Taking a longer time to do that and not even knowing whether it's going to be accountable is a worrisome thing to me.
With regard to what's been taking place in Windsor and Essex County, can you table any minutes or information about whom you've been meeting with and when? I've been open in terms of having public meetings. We've done a lot of petitions. We've done a lot of lines of communication. We've had all kinds of different schools involved. We've had a whole series of things. That's why the city supports us. Caldwell First Nation will come. We've had discussions even informally with others.
I'm kind of wondering what you can share with this committee what you've been doing under your plan.
1:50 p.m.
Vice-President, Protected Areas Establishment and Conservation, Parks Canada Agency
We maintain a record of the consultations we have. In fact, in our work with the partnership committee, it will be Windsor that will be taking the lead on the public consultation, and we're supporting them to do so, so there will be a public record of all the public consultations that happen.
1:50 p.m.
NDP
Brian Masse NDP Windsor West, ON
Okay, but you have a process that you're saying is in place right now. Can we have those minutes, and can we have those identified meetings that took place?
1:50 p.m.
Vice-President, Protected Areas Establishment and Conservation, Parks Canada Agency
I would have to verify. Those are partnership meetings, and I'm not sure of the rules of the table on those.
1:50 p.m.
NDP
Brian Masse NDP Windsor West, ON
Okay.
I had to go with what's in front of us in terms of the law, using the National Parks Act. I want to go to the idea of increasing boundaries later on. Do any national parks ever get expanded at any point in time, and how is that done?
1:50 p.m.
Vice-President, Protected Areas Establishment and Conservation, Parks Canada Agency
Yes. We do expand parks from time to time. Normally, a bill is tabled in Parliament to expand the boundaries.
1:50 p.m.
NDP
Brian Masse NDP Windsor West, ON
Right, so if this bill is passed and if, for example, another spot was located later on or we had a great....
I was a vice-chair of the conservation authority. If we had philanthropists who came and gave land to the municipality or something else, it would just be amending those pieces of geography in the act. Is that not the process?
1:50 p.m.
Vice-President, Protected Areas Establishment and Conservation, Parks Canada Agency
Correct. I would just note that the current study area that's being contemplated by the partnership group is larger, so it would negate some of that later work if we were able to use the larger boundaries currently being—
1:50 p.m.
Senior Vice-President, Operations, Parks Canada Agency
If I could, on that...?
1:50 p.m.
Senior Vice-President, Operations, Parks Canada Agency
I think that comes back to a little bit of what MP McLean was asking about. Absolutely, that could be done. Normally the process is that you look and you have a study area. You then look, from a parliamentary perspective, and do all of the—
1:50 p.m.
Senior Vice-President, Operations, Parks Canada Agency
—title work on that in order to make sure that it actually lives up to the requirements of the act.
1:50 p.m.
NDP
Brian Masse NDP Windsor West, ON
Sure. Absolutely.
I'm sorry that I have to cut you off. I'll be really quick.
That is the normal process to amend. Have almost all of Canada's national parks been amended to increase their size with new lands? My understanding is that it's a yes.
1:50 p.m.
Senior Vice-President, Operations, Parks Canada Agency
A great number of them have.
1:50 p.m.
Vice-President, Protected Areas Establishment and Conservation, Parks Canada Agency
A number of them have.
1:50 p.m.
NDP
Brian Masse NDP Windsor West, ON
Yes.
I understand what you're saying, but what we were starting with in this bill was the lands that we wanted to compel people to give towards. We have to find a solution to try to improve the bill to allow greater flexibility to include those lands earlier on, but if we can't at the moment, then we could always change the schedule later on, similar to what's been done for many parks across Canada. Is that not correct?
1:50 p.m.
Vice-President, Protected Areas Establishment and Conservation, Parks Canada Agency
That's correct.
