Environment committee  Thanks for the question, Mr. Amos. We have three national parks in Quebec. We acquired one by outright purchase from an oil company. The second one is on a 99-year lease, and the third one was the result of land exchange. Saguenay-St. Lawrence exists because there is both federal and provincial jurisdiction.

Environment committee  Yes. I just want to remind the committee of what I think is an important point, because I think people quote various pieces of section 4 of the Canada National Parks Act. Since 1930, when Parliament first affirmed the purpose of parks, section 4 has never changed. It reads as follows: The national parks of Canada are hereby dedicated to the people of Canada for their benefit, education and enjoyment...and the parks shall be maintained and made use of so as to leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.

Environment committee  Thank you for the question, Mr. Stetski. The committee has been previously briefed in terms of the work that we are co-leading with the Government of Alberta in working with other governments, indigenous governments and others. If I may, let me suggest that in a number of weeks it might be worthwhile to ask representatives of Parks Canada to return, because I think we'd be in a better position at that time to speak to plans, or further plans, in terms of the 17%.

Environment committee  I'll start off by simply pointing out that for the last several decades, through the various budget allocations we have gotten for creating new national parks and national marine conservation areas, part of our budget ask and part of what is funded is to do exactly what you said.

Environment committee  Unfortunately I can't respond with details to your question, so we can get back to you. At the same time, I'd say over the last 10 years we have been doing more to work in partnership with the tourism industry, in terms of looking at how we can deliver iconic visitor experiences that are consistent with national park ideas.

Environment committee  We'll get closer in writing.

Environment committee  I think the funding that you're specifically referring to was not for establishment. It might have been for capital, or—

Environment committee  I guess your question wasn't more about the funding. It is about both. It is about, as I mentioned, having the necessary funding, but also building the necessary relationships so that we have funding to advance a number of extremely important sites. Thaidene Nëné and Lancaster Sound are probably going to be our next two sites, and both of them are extremely important ecologically.

Environment committee  As I've mentioned before, we acknowledge that in the next several years we're going to have to start to look at what the next version will be in terms of the national parks systems plan, but currently we are focused on getting the areas in the unrepresented ones. In terms of our marine systems plan, as I mentioned, we have only five of 29 represented, so we will continue to work on that plan.

Environment committee  I'm going to say I'm quite optimistic, and the reason I say that is this country demonstrated, during the 1990s, that it could triple the amount of protected area in Canada through something that was called the Endangered Spaces Campaign that featured, as Mr. Stringer said, an all-in approach by governments, conservation organizations like some that you will hear from on Thursday—the Nature Conservancy, Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society—indigenous people, industry contributing by voluntarily giving up hydrocarbon leases in a number of proposed areas like Gwaii Haanas and Grasslands National Park.

Environment committee  Here is an example of what I provided to the committee. We received significant funding in budget 2003. We finally expended all the funds under that budget by 2010-11. We delivered over 100,000 square kilometres. I can get you the numbers. My point is we got a fair amount of funding, but it took time to negotiate the necessary agreements from provincial governments to get them to agree to transfer the surface and subsurface to Canada to manage as national parks.

Environment committee  I hate to pull the “that's not an issue I'm familiar with”...but it's not an issue I am familiar with. I haven't been involved in the planning in that. Again, on the national park and the national marine conservation area side, we receive budgetary allocations to do the necessary planning and consultation.

Environment committee  We'll get back to the committee on that one.

Environment committee  I suppose I can't just give a response similar to the one for Mr. Amos, that I'll get back to you in writing. Part of what I want to emphasize goes back to my concluding remarks on the kinds of things that I think would certainly help in terms of completing a systems plan: political leadership and commitment.

Environment committee  I'll take a swing. First of all, as Mr. Stringer pointed out, the mandate letters for both the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard as well as our Minister of Environment and Climate Change have provided that mandate on the marine side. Under the Oceans Act, it is DFO that has the lead for that, and we are working with them collaboratively, as is Environment Canada.