Environment Committee on May 5th, 2026

[Nathalie Provost, Liberal, Châteauguay—Les Jardins-de-Napierville, QC]

I love your question. Thank you very much.

When we say that we want to mobilize nature, it's because we think that what people are doing in their communities for conservation needs to be a priority. That's the spirit in which we're working.

You certainly noticed my enthusiasm when our colleague Tim Watchorn shared examples from his community. There's no question that these projects are of great value to Canadians. So we want to make sure we find strategies that allow us to support these types of initiatives quickly and efficiently.

[Branden Leslie, Conservative, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

Thank you.

I'm going to try to combine two questions into one here. I'm not sure if you're familiar with previous programs, namely the recreational fisheries conservation partnerships program, which was ended by the Liberal government, which trusted local angling groups to restore fish habitat, remove barriers and improve water quality.

I'm curious as to why that program hasn't been re-established and whether it could be folded underneath this, as well as whether or not there's consideration for a national ecological goods and services program that will pay farmers and landowners for doing real conservation work on their private property.

[Nathalie Provost, Liberal, Châteauguay—Les Jardins-de-Napierville, QC]

I don't have a full answer for my colleague, but we will definitely need to go further. We'll present it to you based on what we already have.

Just as we want to work with groups on the ground, we also want to work with biodiversity conservation approaches, even in contexts where the soil is being cultivated. There are likely opportunities. To the extent possible, we'll get back to you on that.

[The Chair, Liberal, Shannon Miedema]

Thank you, Mr. Leslie.

We'll now turn to Mr. Malette for three minutes.

[Chris Malette, Liberal, Bay of Quinte, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Secretary Provost, I've been working closely over the last year with land trusts in my area. The Bay of Quinte has several active groups, and I've been speaking with the national organization as well.

Can you expand a bit on how land trusts would become a crucial component of this plan for 30 by 30? Will there be any more incentives for land trusts, to attract more people to take part in donating to land trusts?

[Nathalie Provost, Liberal, Châteauguay—Les Jardins-de-Napierville, QC]

Thank you for your question.

What you're saying is that there's a base of land trusts. Citizens and landowners across Canada recognize the natural value of their land and want to protect it over the long term. There is no doubt that these groups are key pillars, and we will want to work with them to achieve the goal of protecting 30% of Canada's territory by 2030.

The various programs, which have not yet been fully detailed, will enable us to scale up that effort thanks to the capital that will be made available. We're still in the process of developing them. My colleagues will likely be able to provide you with more details. These are clearly types of conservation strategies that are of great value to our implementation strategy.

[Chris Malette, Liberal, Bay of Quinte, ON]

I'll ask one more quickly. You mentioned some of your colleagues. Could any of your colleagues explain whether that is in consideration? Are there any sort of enhanced tax breaks, say, for people who participate in land trusts?

[Tara Shannon, Assistant Deputy Minister, Canadian Wildlife Service, Department of the Environment]

Thank you for the question.

There are no additional tax breaks under way at the moment. We do work closely with the various land trusts, and we are looking at how to work best with them to unlock greater recognition across the working landscapes, because land trusts work both in purely protected areas and with partners who, say, are involved in agricultural activities. That's the kind of thing that we'd like to be able to focus on in our active conversation.

[Chris Malette, Liberal, Bay of Quinte, ON]

Thank you for that.

[The Chair, Liberal, Shannon Miedema]

Thank you very much, Mr. Malette.

Mr. Bonin, you have the floor for three minutes.

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Ms. Provost, you have quite a challenge ahead of you. We will, of course, work constructively with you. However, let's be realistic. Despite the billions that were recently announced for nature, you completely missed the 2025 protection target, which, I remind you, was 25%. Currently, only about 15% of Canada's marine and terrestrial areas are protected.

There are three years left. You're investing some money in the project, but if we look at how things have been done in the past, I don't know how you're going to change the dynamic. Right now, you're not on track. In addition, you told us that $460 million had been promised to Quebec by the former minister of the environment, and your government withdrew it. That concerns me greatly.

Do you have a game plan for us? Where will things stand next year, in 2028, 2029 and 2030?

If we want to get there, we need a plan. Do you have one? Can you table it?

[Nathalie Provost, Liberal, Châteauguay—Les Jardins-de-Napierville, QC]

Thank you for the question.

The strategy was launched a month ago. We're starting to work on the structure, the project office, this week. As soon as the deployment and implementation plan is clearer about how we want to progress to 2030, we will be pleased to present it.

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

When can we expect to have it?

[Nathalie Provost, Liberal, Châteauguay—Les Jardins-de-Napierville, QC]

Let me have the first meeting, please.

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Okay.

Will you commit to coming back before this committee to update us on an annual basis with documents that show the progress?

[Nathalie Provost, Liberal, Châteauguay—Les Jardins-de-Napierville, QC]

I would be more than happy to do that.

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Thank you.

You're talking about astronomical amounts of money, but I'd like the private sector to invest and protect the forest.

Of course, we have to find an innovative way forward, but I have my doubts. I think your 30% target is enormous.

Are you going to invest more in protecting public lands, where we need to invest? In the private sector, we can invest billions of dollars, astronomical amounts. Private land is extremely expensive.

[Nathalie Provost, Liberal, Châteauguay—Les Jardins-de-Napierville, QC]

Thank you for the question.

Actually, your colleagues raised the issue about public lands, but seven of those lands are under provincial jurisdiction. Canada can't barge in and say it's important, that it's the provinces' responsibility, but that the government will decide how these lands are used.

Obviously, public lands are important places to consider protecting. However, that requires working with provinces and territories, and with first nations. Large-scale projects that have to be carried out also need to be taken into consideration. This will undoubtedly be the subject of collective discussions if we want to achieve our objectives.

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

How will you balance the major projects, the pipeline projects that will pass through the territory? The act even makes it possible to suspend the applications of laws designed to protect the environment so these projects can get done.

How are you going to protect the land when it comes to these projects?

[The Chair, Liberal, Shannon Miedema]

Unfortunately, your time is up, Mr. Bonin.

This concludes our time.

Ms. Provost, thank you very much for joining us for this last hour. We really appreciate it.

Mr. Leslie, you have the floor.

[Branden Leslie, Conservative, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Honestly, thank you, Minister or Secretary—I'm not exactly sure what to call you—for your answers today.

I just want to make sure to follow up. You mentioned several times that departmental officials would follow up. I'm hoping we can have the department share stuff on all those individual occasions.

Thank you very much.

[Nathalie Provost, Liberal, Châteauguay—Les Jardins-de-Napierville, QC]

The project manager here will follow up.

[Branden Leslie, Conservative, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

Okay.

[The Chair, Liberal, Shannon Miedema]

Yes, thank you very much, also, to the officials for their time.

We're going to suspend briefly so we can switch to our second round.

[The Chair, Liberal, Shannon Miedema]

All right. We're going to get started with our second hour here, members.

We are welcoming witnesses from Parks Canada Agency this afternoon. We have Andrew Campbell, interim president and CEO; Patrick Boucher, vice-president, real property and assets; Andrew Francis, vice-president, finance and chief financial officer; David Millar, vice-president, protected areas establishment and conservation; and Nadine Spence, vice-president, indigenous stewardship and cultural heritage.

Thank you all very much for being here. We're going to begin with five minutes from Mr. Campbell.

The floor is yours.