Environment committee  It's a great question. I would agree with the proposition that getting a wetland program unfolding in the prairies would have immense value. One specific example is the work we did on Lake Winnipeg. There was a significant challenge there in nutrient management for a whole bunch of reasons.

Environment committee  When you say “monitoring and research”, what are you referring to?

Environment committee  Are you referring to conservation?

Environment committee  It's interesting, because the sense we're getting from early conversations on national conservation is that part of the value is that you create a framework. We're a bit hesitant to declare the framework should be X because we don't think it's up to us to do that; we think that needs to work through the consultations.

Environment committee  Sure.

Environment committee  I do, and my sense is that there is a fair bit of research out there. There is publishing—the Ecosystem Status and Trends Report, etc.--that gives us a sense of things that are happening. Bringing that analysis into the discussion is a key part of fostering the good development of a national conservation plan.

Environment committee  It's difficult to tell you what the total of all future government decisions is going to be in terms of 2020, so it's difficult to say yes, no, or maybe. What might be useful, though, is a sense of some of the activities in marine protected areas. Mike, you may wish to speak to that briefly.

Environment committee  I think that's a great group. I don't recall if you had said aboriginal organizations at first.

Environment committee  You did. Okay, good. Excellent. I think that's a fantastic list.

Environment committee  I think it's included in the inventory of existing programs on the ground. It's the programs you're getting at, I assume.

Environment committee  It's difficult to comment extensively, only because my initial reaction is that you framed that in terms of what you've proposed, and the list of questions and issues sounds like a pretty reasonable scope to start. It gives the breadth of bringing the ideas in. I can't think, offhand, of any key group of stakeholders or experts who wouldn't be included in the categories that you've listed.

Environment committee  Sure. There have been fairly informal consultations to date. One of the key anchor points is the round table that the minister held in January, which has been a point of discussion here. Leading up to that, we've had some consultation, largely with conservation groups who were keen to talk to us about a national conservation plan, who were keen to offer their suggestions and perspectives.

Environment committee  I'd make a very general quick comment. I think our sense is that part of what will likely be new in the NCP is that it would be bringing in a much greater focus on working lands. We actually don't believe that it's an either/or proposition. We believe that both dimensions are actually useful and productive and you've just got to find the best, most productive, next step among the wide range of choices, whether it's working lands or protected lands.

Environment committee  Thank you for that. I should point out I confess I'm guilty of including agriculture into the industry groups. But the Canadian Federation of Agriculture and the Canadian Nursery Landscape Association were participants in the minister's round table, and I think we'll treat them as a separate category in the future.

Environment committee  We could come back and table it. There's a fairly long list and there are a number of categories. But we'd be happy to provide that.