Mr. Chairman, an additional schedule has been added to this appropriation bill. Schedule 2 contains Canadian Heritage, Parks Canada Agency which is the first agency to be granted multi-year appropriation authority. This was provided for in the Parks Canada Agency Act, Statutes of Canada for 1998, chapter 31, subsection 19(2) which states:
The unexpended balance of money referred to in subsection 1 appropriated by any act of parliament for the purpose of making operational expenditures of the agency lapses at the end of the fiscal year following the year in which the money was originally appropriated or at the end of any longer period that may be specified in the act.
Pursuant to this provision, the authority provided through the program expenditure vote for the Parks Canada Agency will not lapse until March 31, 2001.