Journals of the Senate
49 Elizabeth II, A.D. 2000, Canada
Journals of the Senate
2nd Session, 36th Parliament
Issue 79 - Appendix
Thursday, October 5, 2000
2:00 p.m.
The Honourable Gildas L. Molgat, Speaker
Appendix to the Sixth Report of the Standing Senate Committee on Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources
The Committee's major concern following its hearing on Bill C-27, An Act respecting the national parks of Canada, is the lack of adequate funding that would permit timely implementation of the provisions of the Act. Since 1994, Parks Canada has seen its parliamentary appropriations cut from $374 million to $283 million. In addition to this $91 million decrease, Parks Canada has had to find $16 million within its smaller budget to fund the creation of the three new national parks that were added to the network since 1994.The Committee heard from officials of Parks Canada that the $107 million shortfall has been made up, in part, by the imposition of user fees ($35 million). The rest has been made up by cuts to their overhead (closure of regional offices), as well as cuts to the highways capital program, the parks and sites rehabilitation program and the operating budgets of parks and sites. All of our national parks are suffering the impacts of these cuts. According to testimony received by the Committee, Parks Canada commissioned an independent study of their existing asset base. That study concluded that there is a current shortfall of about $475 million in the capital budget to maintain the $7 billion in assets for which the Parks Canada Agency is responsible.
The passage of Bill C-27 will mandate the addition of seven new national parks and one national park reserve. Without an accompanying significant increase in the Parks Canada budget, the Minister of Canadian Heritage and her officials told the Committee that it would be impossible to meet our year 2000 target in terms of establishing new parks. In order to implement the new legislation, it must be funded. The Committee is serving notice that it can not support the creation of future parks until an appropriate level of funding is in place.
The Committee also heard from a number of witnesses concerning the management of communities within national parks. In particular, people from the town of Jasper raised concerns about the ability of Parks Canada to effectively manage municipal affairs in the town, and about the lack of communication between Parks Canada officials in Ottawa and the elected advisory council in Jasper. The Committee urges Parks Canada to take steps to improve communications and make more effective use of the advisory council in administering municipal matters.
The Committee also is concerned at what seems confused relations and communication between Parks Canada and legitimately established, operating business undertakings within National Parks, and strongly recommends that Parks Canada work diligently to improve and rationalize relations, regulations and restrictions in this regard.
The Committee has heard testimony with regard to ski hills and other businesses now operating within the mountain parks and the potential adverse impact that passage of Bill C-27 may have on them. The Committee also heard testimony of the need to relieve the stress now being put on some of our most popular parks. For example, the Banff Bow-Valley Task Force Report stated that the pressure on Banff National Park is so severe that within 20 years, irreversible ecological damage will occur unless corrective measures are taken. The funding cuts mentioned above have exacerbated the problem, by putting added pressure on Parks Canada to generate revenue from user fees.
Since that report was published, Parks Canada has taken a number of extremely small steps to address the issue. They have removed the buffalo paddock and the cadet camp from Banff National Park and are looking at the possible closure and removal of the small airstrip within the park boundaries. It has been suggested to the Committee that, with the same goal in mind, voluntary sale at fair market value be considered as an option for businesses. The Committee urges the government to closely examine the practicality of this and other innovative means of addressing this issue.
The Committee further recommends that the government look closely at the Senior Officials Forum now operating in Riding Mountain National Park as a model for co-operation between Parks Canada officials and aboriginal peoples with historic resource, cultural and/or ceremonial interests in lands designated as national parks.
Notwithstanding tax measures that they have already taken, the Committee urges the government to make additional improvements to the tax structure to provide a greater incentive to owners of lands adjacent to our national parks to conserve their land, and thus protect the ecological integrity of the park.
The National Parks Act has been with us since 1937, with some amendments having been made in 1988. It is well past time to modernize this important piece of legislation and Bill C-27 will do this. The Committee recognizes the urgent need to pass Bill C-27 and set a new course for Parks Canada, one that recognizes the pre-eminent importance of maintaining ecological integrity of our Parks. The Committee approves in principal the creation of seven new Parks and one park reserve, but strongly objects to the lack of adequate capital and operating funds for them.
The Committee will be revisiting the issues raised in these observations in one year's time and will call on government to report on the progress it has achieved towards addressing the Committee's concerns.