Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for allowing me the opportunity to speak to Motions Nos. 1 and 2.
Bill C-38 will create a new national park. The creation of national parks is important. The minister has said before that one of the objectives of this government is to expand the habitat of our national parks and we agree with that objective. However, it is important for her to realize that with the expansion of the parks the individuals within those parks will be unable to raise the money to develop them because there will be no new funds.
How will we manage to develop parks such as Tuktut Nogait? How will we manage to buy the land and provide the money for the conservation officers, the habitat protection, the scientific research and the equipment that is required to be able to manage these parks?
The minister should look at some of the good work that is being done by the World Wildlife Fund. The World Wildlife Fund has utilized a basic theory in various parts of the world, including Central America where a number of species, including the golden lion tamarin, were becoming extinct. They asked themselves “How do we manage to rescue these animals when we do not have very much money”? They utilized the basic theory that parks have to pay for themselves. They utilized the park and were able to generate revenues in an environmentally sound fashion. With those revenues they managed to hire park staff, to do research and to expand the park to the surrounding areas. They also used the revenues for health care, education and many other services.
By doing that they created a buffer zone around the park. The people took ownership of the park themselves because they derived benefits from it and they saw the value of the park in their own lives. Without any new funds they expanded the habitat of the park. They managed to raise funds to research the flora an fauna within the park and saved many useful species that were becoming extinct. This was accomplished without using any new revenue. It was extremely clever. We need to learn from this experience.
There is not any new money, but parks have an unusual ability to raise funds and use the funds for expansion. As Motion No. 1 attests, the development of habitat is exceedingly important in the ability of flora and fauna to exist. The destruction of flora and fauna is intimately entwined with the destruction of habitat. Therefore, the expansion of habitat is exceedingly important in saving flora and fauna.
How do we manage to expand and develop a park such as the one mentioned in Motion No. 1, or Banff, without providing new money? We can do that by generating revenues within the park.
I will use Banff as an example.
Banff has an ability to raise funds. The people within Banff are asking for 850,000 square feet of land to be developed within the boundaries of the city. They do not want to expand Banff into other areas. This is exceedingly important to understand. They will be able to generate funds from that development. Within the boundaries of the park that money could be poured back into Banff National Park for the expansion of the habitat and the development of conservation initiatives. That would give the conservation officers the tools they need to do their job.
One of the biggest problems we have is that our conservation officers do not have the tools. The argument that was put forth by the minister was that conservation officers are spending too much time on developmental work. If we want to give conservation officers the necessary tools, we should use the money generated from the development of the park. That money could easily be put back into the park as designated revenues, rather than general revenues, to be used for something completely different.
Some places in the world charge a 1% or a 2% surcharge on hotel accommodations and other tourist facilities. That money is designated for park services.
This would help our threatened flora and fauna. It would enable the minister to fulfil her objective in expanding habitat and providing funds to preserve our wilderness areas.
The models around the world which are used by the World Wildlife Fund and others can be adopted in Canada. However, we have to have the political will to do that. I hope the minister sees the opportunity to generate revenues within the parks which could be used to preserve them.