Environment committee  There was a lot of work done on funding, a lot of modelling done on how tax credits could work, and so on. I don't remember all the numbers. There certainly was a lot of work done, and it would have been assigned to the two acts separately because they were different.

Environment committee  These distinctions currently don't exist. However, depending on the programs accepted by a particular government, a program can always be created a certain way to compensate for some shortcomings or to enter different data. For example, in terms of rural buildings and major cities, certain distinctions can always be made between the cities and rural municipalities, as is the case in Quebec.

Environment committee  No, go ahead.

Environment committee  Very quickly, I think a short-term win would be to introduce the concept of indigenous registrars for the Canadian Register of Historic Places. That would be because we didn't get far in the consultation with indigenous peoples. One, we didn't know how to do it, and two, the concept of heritage has evolved so much that it's absolutely essential that it be self-identified, and this would be a great enrichment of the registry.

Environment committee  I honestly can't answer that. I'm not inside anymore. I don't know how it was allocated. Really, I haven't done a study of that. I think this is something an auditor general would come through and do another report on to see how it had addressed some of the failings that were identified.

Environment committee  I think you've had Dr. Alway in to talk about how that process works, so I won't repeat that. I think the idea of the Canadian Register of Historic Places was really designed to capture exactly what you're talking about, and that in terms of federal jurisdiction the responsibility is that no federal action would negatively impact such a place.

Environment committee  That was where the tax credit program was targeted—

Environment committee  —and that was really in relation to any registered property, so that would be the area to explore. I know we're out of time.

Environment committee  It's because Gordon and I don't agree on this point, so I'll give you my quick hit and give him some time. I was very disappointed that the Minister of Environment's mandate letter did not include cultural heritage. I'll leave that there. I know he'll have more to say about that.

Environment committee  That could be a consideration, and in terms of priority setting, that would be something that would be considered as part of your recommendations and as part of developing legislation.

Environment committee  Assuming they are designated by some level of government, then the ownership matters. If it remains in federal ownership, then some of the things we've been talking about—

Environment committee  —would be a legislative issue to my point of view, and that legislation would be accompanied with some funding support, because the other departments will be looking for that. If it's out of the federal basket, then these other tools come into play. If the building were owned and operated by a not-for-profit or an institution, then—

Environment committee  The crown corporations, as was said here at the table, are completely out of any federal heritage buildings policy, which only applies to departments. This would require legislation.

Environment committee  I don't see it so much as being in the context of rural. I understand the issue is often a rural one, but it would be the obligation of a crown corporation or the obligation of another federal department to take into consideration the heritage value as recognized by either a national historic site or a site on the register of federal heritage buildings.

Environment committee  I would just like to mention that there is one very good model of a site in the Northwest Territories called Sahoyue-Edacho, which to all intents and purposes looks like a national park and has really no built resources in it. It probably has archeological resources. It's designated as a national historic site of Canada for its value to the indigenous peoples and their stories as related to the land.