moved:
Motion No. 6
That Bill C-29, in Clause 23, be amended by adding after line 30 on page 13 the following:
“(3) When setting a fee under subsection (2), the Minister shall ensure that local residents enjoy a preferential fee.
(4) The Governor in Council may, by regulation, define the expression “local residents”.”
Mr. Speaker, with the motions in Group No. 2, we are proposing that clause 23 be amended.
Clause 23 reads as follows:
23.(1) The Minister may, subject to any regulations that the Treasury Board may make for the purposes of this section, fix the fees or the manner of calculating the fees to be paid for a service or the use of a facility provided by the Agency.
(2) Fees for a service or the use of a facility that are fixed under subsection (1) may not exceed the cost to Her Majesty in right of Canada of providing the service or the use of the facility.
We discussed at length, in committee, pointing out that we think it extremely important that local residents be allowed access to parks and historic sites for a reasonable fee. We would therefore like the following added as a third paragraph:
(3) When setting a fee under subsection (2), the Minister shall ensure that local residents enjoy a preferential fee.
(4) The Governor in Council may, by regulation, define the expression “local residents”.
A number of us are really very concerned. The government, of course, does not share our concern, but we are extremely worried that the government will add all sorts of hidden taxes and adopt a business mentality toward parks and historic sites, eventually wanting the agency to be self-funding. That way, it will receive more money for interfering in provincial jurisdictions, the way it has been doing so far with its budget surplus.
We want local residents to be taken into consideration, and to have access to their immediate environment. They used to get in for free. Since Parks Canada has invaded our environment, we are obliged to pay ever greater amounts to enjoy the beauty of nature.
We want consideration to be given to a preferential fee for local residents, so that the price they are charged for admission to our parks and historic sites is always kept to a minimum.