Evidence of meeting #110 for Natural Resources in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was fire.
A recording is available from Parliament.
12:30 p.m.
Vice-President, Protected Areas Establishment and Conservation, Parks Canada Agency
I would say that it was based on the policy statements that were made, with targeted and specific actions identifying which types of treatments would be used, but still fundamentally respecting the policy statements within the agency.
12:30 p.m.
Conservative
Blaine Calkins Conservative Red Deer—Lacombe, AB
What's the current status of the plan insofar as what was expected to be achieved versus where we're at today?
12:30 p.m.
Vice-President, Protected Areas Establishment and Conservation, Parks Canada Agency
We spent, just in 2016 and 2017, about $1.8 million on a variety of fire- and forest-related activities, which included a number of actions specific to the mountain pine beetle. So that was spent, and a number of prescribed burns were targeted.
As well, this winter there will be a large mechanical removal or reduction occurring in one of our areas here. I can find that here....
12:30 p.m.
Conservative
Blaine Calkins Conservative Red Deer—Lacombe, AB
No, you can just submit all of those specifics to the committee. We don't need to go into those details.
Was the plan to just slow down the spread of the pine beetle or was it to eradicate the pine beetle from the park?
12:30 p.m.
Vice-President, Protected Areas Establishment and Conservation, Parks Canada Agency
It is a naturally occurring species, so the plan and the hope is to return the ecological integrity of the park. That includes the presence of this species but in numbers that don't jeopardize the ecological integrity, public safety and other interests. It's not full eradication.
12:30 p.m.
Conservative
Blaine Calkins Conservative Red Deer—Lacombe, AB
In terms of fire suppression plans for the Jasper townsite, I was out there recently and I noticed big swaths cut through, on the bench and so on, as part of the fire suppression or safety measures for the actual townsite. Are there any other places in Jasper where that's happening?
12:30 p.m.
Vice-President, Protected Areas Establishment and Conservation, Parks Canada Agency
That continues to happen in a number of areas around the park. Parks Canada implements the “fire safe” program and is really coordinated with provincial governments and internationally, particularly with the U.S., in terms of using the best science for fire practices. Fire-smarting around Waterton, Jasper, Banff and other areas is continually going on.
12:30 p.m.
Conservative
Blaine Calkins Conservative Red Deer—Lacombe, AB
I don't know how much fire-smarting there is left to do at Waterton or Drayton Valley.
12:30 p.m.
Voices
Oh, oh!
October 2nd, 2018 / 12:30 p.m.
Vice-President, Protected Areas Establishment and Conservation, Parks Canada Agency
No, I know.
12:30 p.m.
Conservative
Blaine Calkins Conservative Red Deer—Lacombe, AB
Is it your assessment of your own plan—if you're being honest with us, and I'm sure you are—that the plan is working?
12:30 p.m.
Chief Ecosystem Scientist, Protected Areas Establishment and Conservation Directorate, Parks Canada Agency
The plan is implemented on a yearly basis. You just have to be careful that you don't do prescribed burns just because they're planned one year. You need to meet certain conditions so that they don't escape and so that you can get the result you want for it.
It's difficult to track very precisely year to year. We have an aim for the next 10 years of burning all of those blocks or patches or stands, but we can't line it up year by year—i.e., that it will be that one—because conditions need to be met.
12:30 p.m.
Conservative
Blaine Calkins Conservative Red Deer—Lacombe, AB
It's called the asbestos forest for a reason. When I was there as a warden, the most valuable asset I had was a rain hat and a slicker. Is that interfering with your ability to execute the plan at all? You can't burn a forest that's rained on three times a day.
12:30 p.m.
Chief Ecosystem Scientist, Protected Areas Establishment and Conservation Directorate, Parks Canada Agency
It goes both ways. When you have a year of very light rain or no rain, you don't do prescribed burns. As for the tracking of whether it works, it's a bit difficult in that context. It will require time.
Then there's the question of whether you judge the result based on slowing the spread. It's clear that there are those sudden, big, fast waves of beetle migrations. Long flights will happen every several years. Between those, every year, you will have a small spread, so it's really difficult from a science basis to assess or certify that your work is slowing the spread. That's clearly what we're trying to do.
12:35 p.m.
Conservative
12:35 p.m.
Liberal
12:35 p.m.
NDP
Richard Cannings NDP South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC
Thanks to both of you for being here.
I was especially happy to see Gilles' name on the list today. Gilles and I—full disclosure—worked together many years ago on the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada.
12:35 p.m.
Chief Ecosystem Scientist, Protected Areas Establishment and Conservation Directorate, Parks Canada Agency
And bird-watching....
12:35 p.m.
NDP
Richard Cannings NDP South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC
And bird-watching.
So I'm trying to think of some pretty tough questions here.
12:35 p.m.
Voices
Oh, oh!
12:35 p.m.
NDP
Richard Cannings NDP South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC
If I have time, I'll get back to the mountain pine beetle, but I just want to change gears here. As you may know, there's a proposal for a national park in South Okanagan in my riding. Some of the locals have a concern around fire issues and forestry and how Parks Canada deals with that. A lot of people think that when a national park is created, you put a fence around it and just keep it that way. They're concerned that this will increase the risk of catastrophic fires.
I wondered if you could maybe outline some of the things Parks Canada does and what they might do in that area with regard to fire management, before the fires happen.
12:35 p.m.
Vice-President, Protected Areas Establishment and Conservation, Parks Canada Agency
What I will say is that we have a very strong.... On average, we're investing about $7 million a year in forest fire management. When we have a high fire year, a lot more resources come into the agency, but within that budget we have prescribed fire burns for the agency across the country. That's happening on an annual basis. Obviously, the plan is being adjusted according to different natural factors, like if it's too hot or too cold. There are obviously set conditions for doing a prescribed burn. Each year a significant amount of planning goes into what the prescribed burns will be. It is one of our best tools in managing for ecological integrity in our parks.
We've been very successful over the last two decades with bringing fire back into the landscape. We do have a history of fire suppression that goes far back, but that has really significantly changed for the agency.
In terms of our ability to manage fire on the landscape, as Gilles alluded to, we've done prescribed burns in St. Lawrence Islands National Park adjacent to community sites. We have the technical expertise, as well as the support of other agencies, as required, to deliver on that fire management. It is one of the tools we use in our tool box. Each site and each place has ongoing monitoring of set indicators so that we can report on the state of our places. As part of the active management of those places, fire is used where appropriate as a tool.
We have done a fair bit of work over the last years to understand our various parks and the natural processes that should be functioning within them. Understanding forest fire cycles over time is a big part of that. Grasslands, obviously, they'll burn at a much lower intensity but higher frequency than a boreal forest. Understanding that allows us to make those decisions. It is really an integral part of our tool box now. It is not anything that we hesitate to use under the right conditions.
Around our use of fire there is a lot of communication and education programs that we do with local communities and others, so that there is a high degree and comfort and understanding about the role of fire in a natural landscape. We wouldn't burn an area without a lot of consultation and communication with local residents, but it is without question one of the tools we use, where appropriate, for managing for ecological integrity.
12:35 p.m.
Chief Ecosystem Scientist, Protected Areas Establishment and Conservation Directorate, Parks Canada Agency
If I may just add, on the resources, in each of the management units we have on the mountain blocks—we have five in total—there is a fire crew and fire specialists in each one of them, who are permanent, indeterminate, year-round. There are 40 dedicated fire specialists and fire crews that are there, available, fully trained and fully equipped all the time. They are supplemented by people from other regions when it's a bad fire season, and they are also supported by all sorts of communication when you have a big fire and all sorts of other internal supports.
In addition to that, we are part of CIFFC. It's all of the forest and wildfire agencies of Canada—provincial, territorial, federal. There is an active exchange of resources. Firefighters from Ontario, when it's a mild year here, move west. You've all heard those stories. We are an active partner there.
But just to emphasize, this is normal business for us. This is not a project. This is not a thing we consider once in a while. It's really normal business. We have 40 dedicated full-time staff year-round just doing that in the mountain parks.
