I thank the hon. member for raising that point. I have no idea about the future of this parks agency. Nobody has any idea. We are opening the door to an insecure future. There is no vision of what our national parks will be. It will be up to the chief executive officer of the agency that will be created.
It is said a percentage of 80% to 85% is government transfers and about 15% is user fees. Who is to say that in the middle of this century it will be 50% user fees and 50% government? By no means has Canada achieved the percentage of national parks that should be created. I believe it is a 12% commitment that has been made to Canadians that would be set aside as national parks. We have not achieved the percentage of lands to be set aside.
As the number of national parks increases in the future, the amount of transfer dollars available from the federal government will dwindle. Will that be decided through the corporate or management plan which will be one person planning to decide to raise the fees? It is uncharted waters and it is a scary thought.
Once you put a big bow tie on an agency such as Walt Disney, it could take over the administration of the parks and make it a truly business-like plan operating at arm's length. The government says we can raise the issue with the minister every two years for a review. It will be designed like an umbilical cord from the minister to the parks agency. Some day it could be severed and that is the scary thought. I would hate to see the national parks depart from that.
In my riding we have the Prince Albert National Park.
Another legacy that Canadians should be aware of is potash heritage sites in my region, as well as Jasper, Banff, Terra Nova and the Cape Breton Highlands. All of these parks will be impacted as well as future parks. But at what cost? Who is going to design and manage them? It will be the chief executive officer. He will be negotiating contracts with the staff. We are giving him two years to come up with it.
What if they do not come up with a contract in two years? What happens to the employees? They will be operating without a contract. Who do they fall under? Who is going to be responsible for parks like Jasper National Park or the Cheviot mine that will be right next door to a national park which is a world heritage site? Who will decide how to procure these lands? One individual could decide to sell the parks or have an ecological impact on them. That is a scary thought.