Environment committee  We have brought our existing program to first nations communities. I wouldn't say that we work specifically with aboriginal youth. I am not aware of any organizations that focus on that.

Environment committee  The short answer is no, we haven't done a lot of research on the longer term at this point. We've only been around for eight years so far, so we're just seeing kids...and our projects have changed a lot over the past eight years as well. We do a lot of research on short-term effe

Environment committee  We certainly do. We run our programs in schools in northern Ontario first nations communities right across the country and primarily in urban centres. We don't find any difference in the kids in downtown Toronto than we find in downtown Sault Ste. Marie.

Environment committee  I'll repeat myself a bit here, as we're strong supporters of getting kids out into nature. But what we also need to do through this plan is to create a cultural shift, starting with the kids. To do that we can't ignore traditional media and reaching kids en masse as well. For us,

Environment committee  We're obviously big believers in getting kids out into nature, but that isn't the only answer. We used to have a large partnership with Outward Bound. We would run summer camps every year for kids, especially kids from priority neighbourhoods. The problem we found, of course, was

Environment committee  We certainly hope so.

Environment committee  On the concept of nature deficit disorder, we are finding that those in the age group we work with, the 8- to 12-year olds, really still have that affinity for nature and connection to nature. It's not until they reach high school level that it really gets driven out of them. So

Environment committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman and committee members for inviting us to appear before you today to contribute to your study on the development of a national conservation plan for Canada. To help you understand our thoughts, we felt it was important for us first to say a few words about