Madam Speaker, it is my pleasure to speak on Bill C-48, an act respecting marine conservation areas.
This bill is to provide a legal framework for the establishment of 28 marine conservation areas, representative of each of the Canadian ecosystems. The Saguenay—St. Lawrence marine park is the 29th marine conservation area, but it will not be governed by this legislation since it already has its own legislation.
Bill C-48 follows a commitment made by the Prime Minister of Canada at the 1996 convention of the World Conservation Union, held in Montreal. The United Nations have designated 1998 the International Year of the Ocean, and the most significant initiatives to mark this event include the World Exposition in Lisbon, Portugal, and UNESCO's adoption of the ocean charter, in St. John's, Newfoundland, in September 1997.
The Bloc Quebecois is in favour of the environmental protection measures contained in this bill. More particularly, however, the Bloc Quebecois reminds the government that it supported the government legislation creating the Saguenay—St. Lawrence marine park.
In addition, the Bloc Quebecois knows that the Quebec government is also pursuing initiatives to protect the environment and sea floors in particular.
I am sure that, as they assess the parties and candidates competing in the ongoing election campaign in Quebec, the people of Quebec can appreciate what the Quebec government has achieved in terms of environmental protection since 1994. Its re-election on November 30 will allow the PQ government to carry on with its environmental protection efforts.
The Quebec government is also open to working together with the federal government, as evidenced by the agreement signed by the two governments on the third phase of the St. Lawrence action plan. However, the Bloc Quebecois has to object to the bill for a number of reasons: first, instead of relying on dialogue, as it did with the Saguenay—St. Lawrence marine park, the federal government is trying to establish marine conservation areas regardless of Quebec's jurisdiction over its territory and the environment.
The second reason our party will oppose this bill is the fact that Heritage Canada is proposing to establish a new structure, the marine conservation areas, which will duplicate Fisheries and Oceans Canada's marine protected areas and Environment Canada's marine protection zones.
In short, the dominating federalism we have come to know in recent years, has divided into three parts in order to trample on Quebec jurisdictions.
We think that the example set by the Saguenay—St. Lawrence marine park should have been followed in this instance. We all remember that, in 1997, the federal and Quebec governments passed mirror legislation creating the Saguenay—St. Lawrence marine park. These laws led to the creation of Canada's first marine conservation area.
The main component of this legislation is the Saguenay—St. Lawrence marine park established jointly by both the federal government and Quebec, without any transfer of land. The two governments will continue to exercise their respective jurisdictions. The park is entirely a marine setting. It covers 1,138 square kilometres, and its boundaries may be changed by mutual consent and following public consultation by both levels of government.
In order to encourage public participation, the federal and provincial laws confirm the creation of a co-ordinating committee, whose makeup will be decided by the federal and provincial ministers. The mandate of this committee is to recommend to the ministers responsible measures that will permit the achievement of the aims of the master plan. The plan will be reviewed jointly by the two governments at least once every seven years.
We think this federal Liberal government should have used this initial co-operative achievement as a model for the creation of other marine conservation areas.
Another reason we oppose Bill C-48 is that it does not respect the integrity of Quebec territory, in the opinion of the Bloc Quebecois. One of the conditions vital to the establishment of a marine conservation area is the federal government's acquiring ownership of the land where the marine conservation area will be established.
Clause 5(2) of the bill stipulates that a marine conservation area may be established:
—only if the Governor in Council is satisfied that clear title to the lands to be included in the marine conservation area is vested in Her Majesty in right of Canada, excluding any such lands situated within the exclusive economic zone of Canada.
Moreover, the Quebec legislation on lands in the public domain applies to all lands in the public domain in Quebec, including river and lake beds, as well as those portions of the beds of the St. Lawrence River and the Gulf of St. Lawrence which belong to Quebec by sovereign right.
Why, then, is Heritage Canada acting so arrogantly today? Just looking at the minister responsible for that department, her ongoing arrogance is obvious. We see how she behaves in Question Period. We hear her regularly insulting the democratically elected members of this House. So how could we expect Heritage Canada to behave any differently than the person in charge of it, the member for Hamilton East?
Why is Heritage Canada acting so arrogantly today, claiming ownership of the marine floor where it would like to establish marine conservation areas, instead of allowing bilateral agreements, between Quebec and Ottawa in particular, so that Quebec may maintain its areas of jurisdiction?
In our opinion, the environment is a shared jurisdiction. By refusing to take the Saguenay—St. Lawrence Marine Park Act as its example, by imposing land ownership as an essential condition for the creation of marine conservation areas, the federal government is, as Robert Bourassa said, acting as a centralizing government with a desire to control everything, regardless of acknowledged areas of jurisdiction.
As far as I know, and the House will no doubt agree with me, former Quebec premier Robert Bourassa was far from being a leading sovereignist. He was an avowed federalist, who did not hesitate to say that the Canadian federal system was a centralizing system.
Under the various laws, the Government of Canada is proposing to create marine conservation areas, marine protection areas and natural marine reserves. According to Fisheries and Oceans, any given area could be zoned in various ways and be subject to different regulations.
The Bloc Quebecois agrees that this is bureaucratic overkill, which will not serve the public interest. The existence of an interdepartmental committee of these various departments is no reassurance. It has been our experience that, when several departments are involved in a project, they generally do not work well together and it ends up costing taxpayers—the people whose income tax is collected, who are tired of paying and find they pay too much for the services they are getting from this government—a lot of money.
The Bloc Quebecois believes that the government would have been better advised to have a single department oversee the protection of ecosystems, with the departments concerned signing a framework agreement to delegate their respective responsibilities.
I would have had much more to say, but I can see that my time is running out and I should conclude.
For all the reasons I have stated and as a result of the work done by our colleague and critic for Canadian heritage, the hon. member for Rimouski—Mitis, my colleagues in the Bloc Quebecois who will speak after me will reiterate the fact that, in our opinion, the Liberal government should withdraw this bill.