Environment committee  Absolutely. Because Holcim has already come up in this discussion, I'll give as an example the large partnership we have with Holcim Canada to support migratory songbird habitat. Later this year that will move on to include supporting some birds of prey. Our executive director,

Environment committee  I think it's absolutely integral that all these groups do work together, to be sure. From the Earth Rangers' perspective, our partnership and the funding we've received through the national conservation plan have helped to build so much credibility for us in the communities we

Environment committee  The private sector has been a really successful source of funding for Earth Rangers over the last five or six years since we've begun to focus on that area. As I said at the beginning, really sometimes our biggest barrier is that we are a national organization so even though we'r

Environment committee  For us they do, yes. We don't really have a sponsorship program, so the recognition that we provide isn't valuable enough to really be considered a sponsorship. It's more community investment or corporate philanthropy, rather than marketing sponsorships.

Environment committee  We've never had to turn one down, but we have had to go back and kind of renegotiate some agreements and some of the expectations regarding what the corporation wanted from Earth Rangers. We've had to go back and say we can't do this, this, and this, but if you're willing to kind

Environment committee  We don't. Like the Credit Valley Conservation Foundation, we have a gift acceptance policy. That's just an internal document that the board of directors and our advisory committee use to assess potential partnerships, but we don't provide our partners with any kind of regulatio

Environment committee  We've been lucky enough to have a really positive response from schools, from the parents of our members, and our members themselves. I think that goes back to just how much importance we place and time we put into ensuring that every message that we put out there to our constitu

Environment committee  I wanted to add to my response before that you have to be committed as an ENGO, and you have to spend a lot of time discussing with your board and your management team what your stance on these issues is going to be. From Earth Rangers' perspective, we also feel passionately that

Environment committee  That's an excellent question, and it's something we have spent a fairly significant amount of time discussing here. Because of the nature of Earth Rangers' mission, which is engaging children and their families on environmental issues and empowering them to get actively involved

Environment committee  Absolutely. It's a well-oiled machine in the fundraising department, prospecting for different areas, reaching out to corporations on a regular basis. We've found it really helpful, through the support we've received from the federal government, first through FedDev southern Onta

Environment committee  What I meant was just that the government's role is as a regulator and that corporations or the private sector would be more encouraged to partner with ENGOs, as the previous speaker said, if there were more communication and more promotion of the importance of those partnerships

Environment committee  Thank you very much. I'd like to thank you first for providing me with the opportunity to speak before the committee today, and I'd like to congratulate you for addressing this important topic. At Earth Rangers we believe strongly in the importance of collaboration among all sec

Environment committee  Old Man on His Back conservation area.

Environment committee  Do you mean corporate partners specifically?

Environment committee  From the program Peter was talking about, Bring Back the Wild, the funds the kids raise are donated to different funding partners. It's financial institutions, like TD, RBC, HSBC; construction companies, like Holcim and Lafarge; energy companies, like Imperial Oil, Devon Energy;