Moved second reading of Bill S-229, An Act to amend the National Capital Act (Gatineau Park).

She said: Honourable senators, I’m pleased to introduce Bill S-229, the Gatineau Park Act.

I introduced this bill a few months ago shortly before Parliament was prorogued. I hope that, this time, we senators will have a chance to study the bill and send it to the other place so that Gatineau Park can finally get all the protection a national park deserves.

Today, I’m going to focus on the rationale for the bill, its main points and the minor changes that were made for this second version.

I would like to remind this chamber that I am presenting this bill to the Senate in very close collaboration with Sophie Chatel, the MP for the riding of Pontiac—Kitigan Zibi, which encompasses a large part of Gatineau Park itself.

I would like to begin by recognizing that Gatineau Park is located on the traditional ancestral lands of the Anishinabek Nation, who have inhabited the land for over 6,000 years before the creation of Canada and who were later displaced. To this day, Anishinaabe communities live in and around Gatineau Park and continue to protect the land. I am pleased to announce that this bill comes with a letter of support from Chief Jean Guy Whiteduck on behalf of the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg Band Council.

Let me begin by reminding you about the larger context and importance of this bill. By now, you are all aware — from speeches and the news — that this year, an early wildfire season has witnessed 1,732 fires in Canada, of which, 72 remain uncontrolled even today. The science is unequivocal: Global warming, biodiversity loss, pollution and ocean acidification have exceeded planetary limits. The planet is warming, and this, in turn, is triggering a series of negative impacts on natural ecosystems. Global biodiversity is rapidly declining, leading many experts to declare that we are witnessing the sixth mass extinction.

In fact, scientists are predicting that more than one million species are currently on track for extinction in the coming decades. How sad. This is a crisis with unimaginable consequences. Humanity depends on biodiversity in countless ways: through the pollination of plants and crops for agriculture, regulation of the quality of the air we breathe, the water and soil quality and our natural resources. The loss of ecological diversity will make our ecosystems less resilient and will worsen our economies and our health.

By now, colleagues, I hope it is clear to you that our society, culture and economy depends on nature, not the other way around. The GDP — the master indicator for financiers and politicians — is based on the economy generated by nature in the form of natural resources, biodiversity and ecological services. Perhaps this is not yet clear to many of you, but it is clear — let me tell you — to most people who live in Quebec.

Hydro Quebec profits are between $2 billion and $3 billion per year. They couldn’t make those profits without the mighty rivers in which gigantic dams have been built. They represent an ecological service.

No less than 90% of the Canadian production of maple syrup is in Quebec, which accounts for the majority of global international production. It generates a profit of $1 billion per year.

Quebec’s mining sector generates $11.9 billion in mineral production, making it the second-largest metal mining producer in Canada. Can you imagine the economy of Quebec without all of this?

When we export nonrenewable resources like raw minerals, we know we are taking them from future generations, because these nonrenewable resources will not come back. If they do come back, they will have been transformed and sold to us at a much higher price.

My interventions via international scientific, engineering and parliamentary platforms enable me to say that this is something which is starting to be better understood by the international community in both the Global North, like in Europe, and in the Global South, like in Africa and Latin America.

The world has tried to tackle the issue of nature and biodiversity loss through the Conference of the Parties, or COP, and the Convention on Biological Diversity.

In 2022 Canada hosted COP 15, which was on biodiversity. The 196 countries that attended adopted the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, whose most notable objective was to protect 30% of all lands and 30% of all waters by the year 2030.

In October of last year, the world gathered in Colombia for COP 16, which I attended with my colleague Andrew Cardozo. There, countries continued their negotiations on biodiversity, pushing for more financing to promote nature loss prevention and regeneration. Senator Cardozo and I were part of the Canadian delegation, and we witnessed first-hand the incredible work being done to connect humanity with nature. In fact, I should say reconnect — rather than connect — humanity with nature.

We still have a long way to go to achieve our goals and restore the balance between humanity and nature, but the work has to start right here at home. Canada has committed to achieving the 30x30 goal and is moving too slowly in protecting its lands and waters.

Can you imagine what we have lost as a result of the wildfires that have occurred so early this spring?

Last year, the government published the latest Canadian environmental sustainability indicators for conserved areas. Although there has been a significant increase in marine protected areas over the last decade, we’re still far from the target, with only 14.7% of marine territory conserved. As for land, Canada has conserved 13.7%. With only five years to go before the 2030 deadline, we have a lot of catching up to do.

In the Outaouais, very close to where we are right now, the conservation picture is not rosy, either. Only 7.6% of the Outaouais region and less than 9% of the Ottawa River watershed are currently protected, despite the fact that the National Capital Region should be an example to the rest of the country.

As I just said, it has to start here. I strongly encourage everyone to visit Gatineau Park. I know that my colleagues who live in Ottawa are very familiar with it. It is so close by. I am thinking of my colleague, Senator Deacon, who encourages us to get outside, go for a walk, get some exercise and some fresh air.

In Canada, there is also an urgent need to more firmly tackle the loss of biodiversity. Across the country, more than 520 species of plants and animals are at risk, according to the public register.

Within its 361 square kilometres, Gatineau Park is the site of more than 50 lakes and numerous wetlands, streams and rivers. Five of the park’s ecosystems and two of its habitats are of great ecological importance. The park is home to more than 50 mammal species, 10 or so reptile species, 15 amphibian species, nearly 230 bird species and thousands of invertebrates. There are also around 1,000 species of plants and 50 species of trees.

At a press conference this morning in Gatineau Park, we came across one of these turtles. Everyone watched the lone turtle in awe as though it was something strange. I remember when I came to Canada, 40 years ago, turtles were everywhere.

Although the park’s biodiversity is wonderful, it is at risk. Some 90 plants and 60 animal species are endangered, including the eastern red cedar, the peregrine falcon, the paleleaf sunflower, Blanding’s turtle and the eastern milksnake.

Gatineau Park is invaluable to the region and we must protect it.

As I explained in my last speech on the bill, Gatineau Park is not officially a national park. Even this morning, some people believed that it is. It is not enshrined in legislation and does not benefit from any formal legal status granted to other national parks, even though it is the second most visited park in all of Canada, with 2.6 million visits recorded annually.

Dear colleagues, this needs to be rectified. Bill S-229 includes five main actions.

First, it establishes Gatineau Park in federal legislation and dedicates it to all Canadians and to future generations. It is important to preserve the park for decades and centuries to come.

Second, it ensures that ecological integrity is the primary focus of park management. We cannot benefit from the park if its ecosystems collapse.

Third, it establishes the park’s boundaries in federal legislation, and it stipulates that these boundaries may only be reduced by legislation, subject to certain exceptions, such as for the development of public health care facilities or public infrastructure.

Fourth, it strengthens ties and cooperation between the National Capital Commission, or NCC, and the Algonquin Anishinabeg Nation in the region, as well as with neighbouring municipalities. We all know we must advance reconciliation.

Fifth, it authorizes the implementation of regulations to control activities in the park and set the fees to be charged, as is the case for all of Canada’s national parks.

Of course, these actions have been selected after several consultations with the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg community, regional environmental organizations, the National Capital Commission, residents’ associations in the area, neighbouring municipalities and both federal and provincial elected representatives from the region, all done by MP Chatel.

These consultations have continued since the first introduction of the bill and have led to two small changes in the version I reintroduced in the Senate this week.

First, this new bill does not include the previously proposed provision granting the NCC the authority to negotiate rights of first refusal with private landowners. Although the NCC already has that power and has occasionally done so with former residents, the inclusion of this provision was not well received by some residents of the park.

The second change is further clarification on the language related to usage fees set by the NCC. The bill grants the NCC the authority to set fees for certain activities in the park, as is the case for any other national park. However, in order to ensure that access to the park remains affordable for all, this new version includes a clarification that these fees cannot exceed the cost incurred by the NCC for providing these services. As stewards of this public park, it would be reasonable for the NCC to recover costs, but not to make a profit.

I can certainly extol the virtues and highlight the importance of our legislation, but it should be noted that the bill has garnered significant support in the community.

In November 2023, Gatineau city council adopted a resolution calling on the Parliament of Canada to:

 . . . pass legislation to ensure the sustainability and integrity of the boundaries of Gatineau Park to guarantee that current and future generations can continue to enjoy the exceptional natural environment of Gatineau Park.

A majority of elected officials in the National Capital Region also support this initiative, as we saw this morning during the press conference in Gatineau Park.

Since March 2023, several petitions calling for legislation to guarantee the protection of the park have been submitted to the House of Commons; more than 4,550 signatures have already been gathered.

Finally, the Chief of Kitigan Zibi, Jean-Guy Whiteduck, and the Chief of Barrière Lake, Casey Ratt, both made recommendations that were incorporated into the bill. Their support for this bill is important.

I believe this is a bill that we can collectively support. I keep calling it low-hanging fruit. We are very much behind on our goal of 30 by 30.

In the past few decades, several legislative attempts have been made to protect Gatineau Park. There have been Liberal attempts, Conservative attempts and — before the prorogation — an independent attempt, but none have reached the end of the legislative process to receive Royal Assent. We have to move, push and make this effort here today.

The last attempt before Sophie Chatel and I took on this initiative was a government bill under former prime minister Stephen Harper.

In the past few years at the Senate, we have adopted several bills that created or expanded urban and national parks. I’m very well placed to know this as the Chair of the Committee on Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources.

This legislative proposal concerns a park that already exists and that, as I said earlier, is already a protected area in the minds of many. We merely need to formalize this in federal legislation.

Colleagues, in the past few months, we have been talking about nation-building projects — projects that reinforce Canadian and regional identities. What does everybody think and imagine about Canada when I visit foreign countries? The answer is forests, rivers and lakes: nature. This builds our identity. Nature is our identity.

Gatineau Park is a natural gem of the National Capital Region and a key natural element of this region. It is part of what makes the Outaouais an incredible place to live, work and play.

It is also of great historical significance for the entire country, serving as home to several national heritage sites and having hosted the Meech Lake Accord discussions in the late 1980s.

I hope you will join me in this endeavour to ensure Gatineau Park’s ecological integrity so that Canadians can enjoy the wonders and beauty of the park for generations to come. I ask you, colleagues, to move this important piece of legislation forward quickly and refer the bill to the Standing Senate Committee on Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources. Let’s give our national capital a true national park of its own.

Thank you, meegwetch.

Yes.

Thank you very much for your question. As I mentioned, this is the most visited park in the whole of Canada, 2.6 million people go and visit. I don’t think that naming it a national park is going to reduce that number; I actually think that it’s going to increase that number. For that same reason, it needs to be managed as a real national park with the well-established boundaries, facilities and the rights and features of a real national park.