Environment committee  I've seen this in the past in terms of specific areas within the country. I think in the Rouge, to be very frank, when all of this started, that's where everyone was at. There were a lot of different perspectives during the initial two years of our process. My concern is to make

Environment committee  I think the reality is that as people assess ecological integrity, there are different aspects of it in terms of the ecological integrators internationally and within Parks Canada. Disturbance is one clearly, and fragmentation is another one. In this case, huge fragmentation is a

Environment committee  I cannot answer that question today. I'm sorry.

Environment committee  I don't have the information. It's been documented in the press. In Parliament it has been stated. There is documentation, I'm sure, in Parks Canada, but I think it would be unfair for me to share internal information about Parks Canada that is very specific.

Environment committee  The agreement is a public document. In the agreement it is very clear that those words are not there.

Environment committee  I'll speak from experience. For example, one of the natural processes that has usually been used, in which Parks Canada is an international leader, is prescribed burns, for example, for ecological reasons and also in terms of fire management. What we did in Parks Canada and what

Environment committee  I'm being cautious because I want to be careful not to share information that I've had through that process. I think the only comment I'll make is that we had a very positive, productive relationship with the Ontario officials. We worked hard together to actually get to the agree

Environment committee  I did say that, so I'll be clear on that. Those were generally my words. The other part of it—and now I'm free to say what I want—is that basically, when you look at the history, I think what happened is that we sat with Ontario at that time, agreed that we would meet or exceed,

Environment committee  I'll use some of the other witnesses' comments, also. Basically, the definition of EI is very scientific, and what we're seeing across the country is basically people interpreting very differently, and then people looking for equal legislation with what's happening elsewhere. F

Environment committee  Yes.

Environment committee  Madam Chair, good afternoon. It's a real pleasure to be here. I am the former CEO of Parks Canada—the second longest-serving CEO of Parks Canada. I was probably the first Parks Canada employee who actually walked on the Rouge, before we started this process several years ago, e

Environment committee  To be fair to the government, I think it would be inappropriate for me to really get into the organization of Parks Canada. What I will say, which is on the public record, is that, when I started in 2002, the budget of Parks Canada was $395 million. In the estimates that you hav

Environment committee  The key to our success long term, I would say, is twofold. First, political leadership at the territorial-provincial-national level working towards one common vision is, I think, critical. Otherwise, you can put all the money you want into protected areas, but if you can't establ

Environment committee  Other witnesses have commented on the criteria that we should define in reporting on what are conservation lands, and I think there are some important ones municipally. We want to make sure it's stringent enough that it doesn't dilute Canada's credibility and the quality of our

Environment committee  Madam Chair, I would say that we're fortunate in Canada for two reasons. First, if you look at the national park system plan, it is a science-based plan and approach to identifying candidate areas. Ecological integrity, for example, is one of the key components of identifying the