Mr. Speaker, in 1996, the Minister of Canadian Heritage did me the honour of asking me to act as liaison with the working group that was appointed to study ecological issues relating to Bow Valley, mainly around Banff National Park.
The working group, on completing its work, stated for the first time that the principle of ecological integrity needed to be applied in our national parks, especially those located in the Rockies, which were its main concern. Based on this principle, the working group called upon the minister to stop all commercial development, particularly in the city of Banff, which was continuing to expand commercially.
I must congratulate the minister for the courage it took and for the integrity she showed. All her actions since then, first of all in implementing the recommendations of the working group, have required a lot of abnegation and courage. It was a controversial decision to implement the recommendations of the Bow Valley working group, but it was an even more controversial decision to establish, two years later, in 1998, a national panel to look into the future of our parks, namely the panel on the ecological integrity of Canada's national parks.
That panel, which sat all through last year, was made up of 11 distinguished Canadians. I want to say a special thanks to the chairman, Jacques Gérin, and to other distinguished Canadians such as Stephanie Cairns, Louis Bélanger and Henry Lickers, who represented various segments of society, particularly in relation to their convictions with regard to the future of our parks. They came to some really striking conclusions. I want to quote here what their report said on the loss of habitats inside our parks.
In Canada over 90% of Carolinian forests have been converted to farmland or towns. On the prairies 99% of the native tall grass communities and 75% of mixed grass communities have disappeared. In Atlantic Canada 65% of the coastal marshes have been drained or filled. Across northern Canada only 35% of the boreal forest remains undisturbed. Largely as a result of this habitat loss many Canadian species are currently threatened.
As we know, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada detected 339 endangered species.
The amazing part of this report was that it developed a huge consensus in Canada. After broad consultations involving all sectors the report received great support from Canadians who value our parks beyond every other value in Canada, except perhaps certain things like the flag, the CBC and national identity. The parks represent all that is valuable to us in the sense of our well-being and our sense of values in Canada.
It included a panel on ecological integrity supported by industry, which again is a breakthrough. I will quote from an industry association submission to the panel which indicates that parks must become centres of learning and study of ecological processes to provide answers for those who wish to manage in the best ecological way possible. Parks must create research groups in partnership with universities and industry to build the body of knowledge necessary.
In 1997 the state of parks report of Canada indicated that out of 38 national parks then in existence only one showed no ecological impact or stress. Therefore 37 of the 38 parks showed some degree, mild to serious, of ecological impact or stress.
The ultimate recommendation of the panel on the ecological integrity of Canada's national parks to the Canadian government was that ecological integrity should become the management priority of our national parks. This led to Bill C-27, which we are debating today at third reading.
The legislation integrated the very principle of the ecological integrity for all aspects of the management of our national parks.
As my colleagues from the Progressive Conservative Party and the New Democratic Party said earlier, the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage came to a true consensus on Bill C-27.
I take this opportunity to particularly thank the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage, the member for Ottawa—Vanier, who does a beautiful job listening to people and who has made himself available to all committee members in order to improve the act.
I would also like to particularly thank my colleagues in the opposition, the member for Dauphin—Swan River, as well as those for Portneuf, West Nova and Churchill River. All have shown a positive, constructive attitude. All the members of the committee have worked together, in a non partisan spirit, to improve this act.
As my colleague for Churchill River said so eloquently, we believe that parks are above petty politics or partisan politics.
I think that we have demonstrated, in Committee as in the course of this debate, that this intrinsic value, for us Canadians, goes well beyond mere political boundaries.
Bill C-27 has established some marker points. From now on, it will be much easier to create new parks. Seven new parks will be created and the process will be much more open. There will be a much closer interaction with aboriginal peoples, with the first nations. There will also be—and this is very necessary—more fines for poaching and the trafficking of animals and wildlife species.
I would be remiss if I did not end by quoting the conclusion of the panel.
The commission used words of thanksgiving from the Haudenosaunee Nation which say so much that I would like to leave them with the House:
Today we have gathered and we see that the cycles of life continue. We have been given the duty to live in balance and harmony with each other and all living things. So now, we bring our minds together as one as we give greetings and thanks to each other as People.
We are all thankful to our Mother, the Earth, for she gives us all that we need for life. She supports our feet as we walk upon her. It gives us joy that she continues to care for us as she has from the beginnings of time. To our Mother, we send greetings and thanks.
I think that this is the spirit of the act.
We thank our mother, the earth, for all that is good, represented so beautifully by our national parks. I forgot to mention that I will be splitting my time with my colleague from Oak Ridges.