Evidence of meeting #23 for Fisheries and Oceans in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was area.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Operations Manager, Great Bear Sea Marine Protected Area Network, As an Individual
It's for the overall network implementation, for the network. I'm a planner.
Conservative
Operations Manager, Great Bear Sea Marine Protected Area Network, As an Individual
On behalf of the 17 partner nations, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the Government of B.C.
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies, BC
Would this be attached to the Great Bear Sea initiative title?
Operations Manager, Great Bear Sea Marine Protected Area Network, As an Individual
Yes.
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies, BC
How is the Great Bear Sea initiative funded? Where are the resources from?
Operations Manager, Great Bear Sea Marine Protected Area Network, As an Individual
Well, as we move into implementation, the majority of funding is coming from the federal government. There's also a significant component coming from the provincial government, and then there are other philanthropic funders that have matched some of that funding.
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies, BC
Have the $200 million received by the Great Bear Sea marine protected area network, which you work for, been deployed into the operations you manage?
Operations Manager, Great Bear Sea Marine Protected Area Network, As an Individual
Yes. There's a small amount that goes towards network implementation and monitoring.
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies, BC
Do you mean a small amount out of the $200 million?
Operations Manager, Great Bear Sea Marine Protected Area Network, As an Individual
Yes. Well, it's not divided that way. The total amount that has been raised so far is $335 million. There's $200 million from the federal government. That all goes into a conservation fund, and a small amount from that conservation fund supports network implementation. The majority goes towards sustainable economic development within the 17 partner first nations communities.
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies, BC
Have some of the funds been invested so that the Great Bear Sea project can benefit from yields of that investment over time?
Operations Manager, Great Bear Sea Marine Protected Area Network, As an Individual
The funds all sit in trust with Coast Funds. That's a question for them, but yes, my understanding is that they're invested and that the interest from the trust goes towards the implementation of the network, economic development and the monitoring of individual MPAs.
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies, BC
As to those dollars from the government, could your organization please send to the committee in writing where they were invested and the results?
Operations Manager, Great Bear Sea Marine Protected Area Network, As an Individual
I can send you contacts within Coast Funds, which is the responsible manager for the investment of the funds.
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies, BC
Thank you.
Mr. Paton, in your observations, have objectives for the marine conservation areas been set out?
Assistant Executive Director, Marine and Wildlife Conservation, Qikiqtani Inuit Association
I would say the objectives for all of the conservation areas across the Qikiqtani region are being worked on.
One national marine conservation area, which is Tallurutiup Imanga and was signed in 2019, has an interim management plan that identifies key objectives for Lancaster Sound, but a multitude of marine conservation areas that are yet to come online have objectives embedded within the SINAA agreement we signed last year.
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies, BC
Has the planning process involved how those objectives are going to be monitored or measured?
Assistant Executive Director, Marine and Wildlife Conservation, Qikiqtani Inuit Association
Yes. There are key performance indicators that will go into the monitoring and evaluation plan we are developing over the next three years in partnership with Canada and Inuit in all 13 communities.
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies, BC
They will be able to measure any results of the conservation areas. Is that the plan?
Assistant Executive Director, Marine and Wildlife Conservation, Qikiqtani Inuit Association
That is correct, yes.
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies, BC
Okay. Thank you.
I think that's all I have for now. Thank you.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Patrick Weiler
Thank you very much, Mr. Arnold.
Mr. Cormier, you have the floor for six minutes.
Liberal
Serge Cormier Liberal Acadie—Bathurst, NB
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Heidt, my first question for you is just to make sure that I know what you're actually doing. You're a planner, you said, or you're developing these areas for a group of organizations. Is that what I understand you're doing?
Operations Manager, Great Bear Sea Marine Protected Area Network, As an Individual
Yes. The best way to think about it is that I coordinate all the government partners.
There are 17 first nations within the Great Bear Sea, the Province of B.C. and the Government of Canada, represented mostly by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, but the Ministry of Transport, Environment Canada and Parks Canada also engage in the process.