Mr. Speaker, I again thank all members for participating today in the debate at report stage. I would like to address the amendments proposed by the member for Windsor--St. Clair.
I understand the member's concern about ecological integrity. As I said earlier, ecological integrity is a key principle that governs our parks legislation. Parks Canada would continue to administer the marine conservation areas. The purpose of the bill is very different from that of the parks act. We are trying to strike a balance between sustainable use and protection.
We want to engage the coastal communities, as the member for Skeena brought forward many times. We listened to those coastal communities during the hearings. We must look at the bill as a different type of legislation than the parks act. It is legislation which looks at the ecosystems. It is not only about the management of ecosystems but also about people living in their communities, appreciating the environment and working together to manage the ecosystems.
Another part of the bill is about educating Canadians from coast to coast to coast about our wonderful marine heritage. Therefore it is quite different from the parks act.
The principles of ecological integrity are absolutely key to the national parks. We must also remember that national marine conservation areas are not parks on water. They are quite different and their needs are quite different.
The potential for zoning is provided so that we can work with communities to determine which are so-called no take zones and which are the ones that people can enjoy. I understand where the hon. member is coming from and appreciate his comments and concerns. However we have to be very clear that this is different legislation from the parks act.
As I said previously, when we were looking at the first set of amendments there was fear of creating too many prohibitions. Many environmental groups felt that we did not go far enough in this area, but the problem with too many prohibitions was that there was fear from coastal communities that they would not be able to take advantage of parts of the marine system that they needed for their livelihood.
We want to ensure that we are able to get consensus to have these representative areas along with the sampling within the 29 regions that have been established by our scientists.
I will speak to the amendment proposed by the member for Skeena which would delete clause 13. We cannot agree to the amendment. The Canadian Alliance is asking us to remove a key conservation provision of the bill. That is not something the government is willing to do or will accept as an amendment.
The intent of the motion was to allow exploration and exploitation of non-renewable resources. It is very important that this is not just a Liberal idea. In fact activities involving non-renewable resources are banned in marine protected areas worldwide. It is an international understanding that those activities are prohibited.
Clause 13 is also a response to the overwhelming concerns of environmental scientists and the general public regarding oil spills that sometimes result from offshore production and damage.What we are trying to do is not only look at the ecological integrity but manage it. We feel it is absolutely vital that we retain clause 13. If we remove clause 13 we will be truly removing one of the vital conservation areas of the bill.
All parties agreed to the amendment regarding mineral and energy assessment. Therefore there are mineral assessments before a marine conservation area is designated. We will put that into the act with all party consent.
It is not the intention of the government to impose a marine conservation area on communities that do not want it. There was an example where a feasibility study was undertaken on the east coast. The community felt that it did not want it and we did not proceed with it. I want to make it absolutely clear that it will never be the intention to unilaterally impose a marine conservation area on a community or province.
We are working in partnership with the provinces. If the bed lies within provincial jurisdiction my colleagues should look at subsection 5(2)(b) of the act to ensure that we truly respect and do not overrule the province's jurisdiction. We look forward to working in partnership with communities and provinces to ensure that we find these representative samplings.