Environment committee  Yes, absolutely. In fact, you can look at things close by, such as the Thousand Islands National Park, which a number of years ago was doubled in size because of an opportunity that arose. Also, Nahanni was expanded sixfold. Lands have been added to a number of national parks, and we realize that at a certain point we're going to have to revisit our systems plan.

Environment committee  The 1994 Parks Canada policy does have policies with respect to the expansion of national parks. We have a policy of willing seller—

Environment committee  It's a policy, and I think we realize when we look at.... We have three national parks, including the Bruce Peninsula and the Grasslands, which still have not reached their full and final boundaries because we require land that has to be bought from private landowners. We also, as you've heard, need some land in the Gulf Islands.

Environment committee  I'm sorry. I realize you're out of time, but is there a way for us to comment back to the committee on the Sable Island issue that was raised? We didn't have a chance to address that.

Environment committee  I appreciate the question being put to an agency that has to negotiate it, but I think maybe the fair way to turn it around is to say that I think there has been a fair amount of work over the past decades in trying to articulate a conservation vision for the country. I think you've heard about a lot here.

Environment committee  I think we can provide you with a broader list. For example, one of our priorities will be that once we secure a park impact and benefit agreement with the Nunatsiavut government for the national park reserve in the Mealy Mountains, it will clearly require legislation to protect it.

Environment committee  Thanks for the question. I cannot speak to Oceans Act marine protected areas, but I can speak to national marine conservation areas established under our legislation. Bear in mind, as we've mentioned to the committee before, that we only have four operating national marine conservation areas, some quite new, some still in the development phase.

Environment committee  I think Parks Canada is in a little bit of a different situation. What Dr. Miller is talking about is creating a protected areas network within one province, where you have a fair amount of crown land that the Nova Scotia government works with. They have the territory on which they can move forward in collaboration with others, while Parks Canada proposes looking at different parts of the country where we can pick up representative natural areas using its systems plan, which we've discussed before.

Environment committee  First of all, we consider the national parks system in Atlantic Canada complete. We've represented all of the regions. To go back a bit, among the challenges we did face, a major one was that many indigenous groups did not want to engage with us, in particular in Labrador, until land claims were negotiated and resolved.

Environment committee  It depends on the different parts of the country. In British Columbia, you don't have the negotiation of treaties in the way you do in, say, Labrador.

Environment committee  The budget that comes down is a government budget, Mr. Amos, and as a civil servant, I can't speak to it any more than that. That's what was announced in the budget.

Environment committee  I would respond simply in terms of the mandate letter, as you quoted, the mandate that has been given to the minister. The second thing is that with respect to specific parks, in part it depends on the management plan. We have a management planning process that we work on with indigenous people to put in place and that we consult the public on.

Environment committee  To go back to 2012, when the reductions were made, we did have within every field unit across Canada the professional capacity to assist each one of our parks and sites with the science they required for management planning and things like as that. We still had a national office, and in the key disciplines, the necessary staff.

Environment committee  First of all, I think it's important to acknowledge at this moment that part of the reason the country has achieved so much in terms of conservation is because of the leadership of a gentleman we just lost, Mr. Jim Prentice. He brought to his portfolio tremendous leadership, which resulted in things like the sixfold expansion of Nahanni and the protection of Gwaii Haanas in the marine environment.

Environment committee  Yes.