Transport Committee on Oct. 21st, 2009

[Jean Perras]

Not really. It all depends on what will happen to the private properties. But I don't see any.... On the contrary, we have supported this bill since it was written. We've said so to the NCC, we've said so to the government, we've said so to several of you around the table. I think our brief clearly established that we are supportive, with the one exception that my two colleagues have mentioned, that we need to conserve the property rights as they are established.

You should also understand that there is a good portion of that park--17% or 18%--that the Government of Quebec still considers as the property of the Quebec government. So in the development of that bill, I hope that the chair will also have the wisdom to sit down with the Government of Quebec and ask them how they feel about the whole evolution of this file so that we make sure that all three levels of government work together on the future of that. As I've mentioned, we signed a protocol last year with the NCC that clearly talks about the same issues that are in there.

It is an issue of promoting an awareness of the environment; of ensuring better cooperation in the planning and management of the environment for habitats and species; of increasing the participation of the various partners in this environment; of improving the quality of life of the residents in the region and of sharing the data and information so that we have a better common understanding. These are objectives that we set for ourselves working from the NCC plan, but they also reflect Bill C-37 very well.

[Dennis Bevington, NDP, Western Arctic, NT]

In your present relationship with the park, are there aspects of infrastructure that perhaps the park is responsible for, such as roadways, that have not been maintained to the level that you think they should be?

[Jean Perras]

I can see you were a mayor before.

Yes, we have that discussion with the NCC every day about the state of Notch Road, Mine Road, Meech Lake Road, and Kingsmere Road. Right now the ball is in our court, and we have to pay for all of the refurbishing and the maintenance and not too much improvement, unfortunately. So we're still discussing a better separation of the fiscal plate with the NCC so that we can have a bigger share in order to permit us to make those roads as safe as possible.

[Dennis Bevington, NDP, Western Arctic, NT]

Do you see this bill as giving you any additional support in that regard?

[Jean Perras]

I didn't see the budget annex to the bill.

[Dennis Bevington, NDP, Western Arctic, NT]

Yes, you have the same issues that we do, I'm sure.

I use the park for cross-country skiing and bicycling, so I appreciate the natural beauty of the park, but I sometimes wonder if it.... You say that the capacity is very full at certain times, but many times when I'm up there, I'm virtually by myself in the park. Has there been enough promotion of the use of the park? Do you feel that there could be an enhancement to the business opportunities with more complete seasonal coverage? Is that part of what the National Capital Commission is talking about?

[Jean Perras]

We've talked about that. The park is really the jewel in the crown of the Outaouais region, at least, and of the national capital as a whole. Yes, it could be better advertised. It could be linked to other key activities in the park, such as the Hull-Chelsea-Wakefield train. We have had those discussions, but we'll leave it to the NCC to develop its tourism industry.

[Dennis Bevington, NDP, Western Arctic, NT]

As to the private property owners, I actually own a cabin in the middle of a national park, and the restrictions on that cabin are quite pronounced. It is something that really comes down to a park management plan that will be interpreted by park staff. Do you have a sense of how that will play out with this proposed act?

[Malcolm MacTavish]

As I said earlier, the NCC has been pretty good about maintaining the park, and we, as property owners, are also very much involved in taking care of our own. We're involved with lake testing and cleanup and things like that.

I don't actually--

[Dennis Bevington, NDP, Western Arctic, NT]

Are things such as tree removal and opening up areas around your property for fire protection the types of things that might be part of ordinary conduct on private property?

[Malcolm MacTavish]

Do you mean things that private property owners would undertake?

[Dennis Bevington, NDP, Western Arctic, NT]

Yes.

[Malcolm MacTavish]

Any homeowner takes pride in taking care of his or her property.

[Dennis Bevington, NDP, Western Arctic, NT]

There are no restrictions.

[Malcolm MacTavish]

There are no restrictions. There are certain municipal restrictions on the size of trees you can remove and things like that, but as I said, the NCC has done a pretty good job and continues to do that. I'm not sure if in the bill itself just making their mandate more streamlined would improve their ability to maintain the park. I'm not sure.

[Claude Garand]

I just want to add that the Municipality of Chelsea obviously has a very green orientation. One example of what has been done recently was the hiring of someone whose specific mandate is to make sure that at a municipal level the water courses are protected and that kind of thing. Someone came to my home at Meech Lake and indicated to us what kinds of things we could do to protect the environment close to the lake, how it should be done, and how property should be maintained to ecologically respect the surroundings. That is just an indication of how the municipality takes care of those aspects.

[The Chair, Conservative, Merv Tweed]

Thank you.

I will assure the mayor that both the provinces of Ontario and Quebec have been invited to come before the committee.

I appreciate your advice.

We'll go to Mr. Jean.

[Brian Jean, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Athabasca, AB]

Thank you, Mr. Tweed. I would like to share my time with Ms. Brown, if possible.

I want to take up where Mr. Nadeau started in relation to the recommended closing of Blanchet Beach and the boat launch. I had an opportunity in July and August to take my motorbike up to that area and to actually go all the way to the end and back around, and quite frankly, I didn't find it as full as you indicated. Although the beach was full, I noticed how many Canadians were enjoying their opportunity to be at the beach and in the surrounding area. I am wondering why you would recommend that the beach be closed, since it is an asset for all Canadians to enjoy, and quite frankly, they seemed to enjoy it quite readily.

[Claude Garand]

I'm not sure what the reasons were, actually. I wasn't involved during the period when the request was made to close the beach, so I'd rather defer to Mr. Perras.

[Brian Jean, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Athabasca, AB]

If I may interrupt for just a moment, the reason I ask is that it seemed to indicate that there was some problem with traffic. That seemed to be one of the major reasons, and also that the beach is overflowing with Canadians who want to utilize their assets. But you have also recommended that even if you close the beach, you will continue to need some form of policing to ensure that people don't park in certain areas, and you're asking for additional coverage and supervision for that and for all of the park. Isn't it really a supervision issue and not necessarily a safety issue?

In July and August, in both months, I was there on sunny days, and I didn't have any problem with traffic. I had no problem finding a place to park my motorbike. Of course I didn't have such a big vehicle, but it didn't seem to be that crowded as far as traffic went. I didn't think it was unsafe at all.

[Jean Perras]

As I mentioned before to Monsieur Nadeau, it was an issue historically, but not every day. I agree with you. For sure, yes, you can go through Blanchet on most days and not have a problem. The problem stems from several days in the summer. Historically, we had major issues: gridlocks and people parking everywhere on private properties, walking all over the place. I tell you, if we had had a fire, for example, at the Prime Minister's residence at the end of Meech Lake—because the Prime Minister's residence is right after Blanchet—we could have had a major problem because we couldn't be there in time with our fire trucks.

[Brian Jean, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Athabasca, AB]

You're suggesting the issue is a matter of illegal parking, possibly a matter of some supervision on those days when it's busier.

[Jean Perras]

That's what we're doing right now. Since then our police are ticketing much more. One of our employees spends most of the weekends there, redirecting traffic. We've established communication lines between Meech Lake, Blanchet Beach, and O'Brien Beach, so when beaches close down and when the parking lots are full, we stop people from going to the beaches because there's no parking whatsoever. Personally, I think the problem has been solved to a certain degree.

[Brian Jean, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Athabasca, AB]

Thank you very much.

I'd like to turn it over to Ms. Brown.

[The Chair, Conservative, Merv Tweed]

Ms. Brown.