43rd PARLIAMENT, 1st SESSION Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development EVIDENCE NUMBER 004 Thursday, February 27, 2020 Chair: Ms. Yasmin Ratansi 1 Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development Thursday, February 27, 2020 ● (0845) [English] [English] It's a real privilege to appear before the committee, and we are The Vice-Chair (Hon. Kerry-Lynne Findlay (South Surrey— grateful for the opportunity to discuss the agency’s mandate, priori‐ White Rock, CPC)): I call the meeting to order. ties and some of our recent accomplishments. Good morning, everyone. We're going to get started. Our chair In just a bit of housekeeping, I would like to outline that we've will be here shortly, I'm sure. We don't want to cut into witness provided the members with a copy of our presentation. As well, time. We have a lot to cover. I'll just say right now that I'm from hopefully, you've all received a USB stick that has a presentation Vancouver, so I feel like I'm living in a snow globe. I'm getting and some visuals of Parks Canada and gives an outline of some of used to it. the things we do that are a little less well known. Finally, I believe there are notes that have been provided to the clerk. We have with us today representatives of the Parks Canada Agency: Andrew Campbell, senior vice-president, operations; Now, if I may, I will quickly walk the committee through the Catherine Blanchard, vice-president, finance directorate; Line mandate and overarching scope of Parks Canada. I'll be followed Lamothe, vice-president, human resources and employee wellness; by Darlene, Stephen and Michael, who will highlight some of the Michael Nadler, vice-president, external relations and visitor expe‐ major mandate areas of Parks Canada. rience; Darlene Upton, vice-president, protected areas establish‐ To begin, the Parks Canada Agency is responsible for protecting ment and conservation; and Stephen Van Dine, vice-president, nationally significant examples of Canada’s natural and cultural strategic policy and investment directorate. heritage and sharing the stories of these treasured places with Cana‐ dians. In doing so, the agency fosters public understanding, appre‐ Welcome to you this morning. We appreciate your being here ciation and enjoyment in ways that ensure ecological and commem‐ and educating us on all you do. I'm sure that we have a lot of ques‐ orative integrity for today and for the future. tions for all of you. The Parks Canada team is over 5,000 strong, and we're proud to Madam Chair is here. I'll just finish this sentence and say that be entrusted with the stewardship of Canada’s national treasured we've allotted 10 minutes to each. places, a stewardship we share in many places with indigenous peo‐ ples. I will turn this over to the chair. The Chair (Ms. Yasmin Ratansi (Don Valley East, Lib.)): The agency manages some of the finest and most extensive natu‐ Thank you, Madam Findlay. ral and cultural heritage places in the world, which include 47 na‐ tional parks; 171 national historic sites, which include nine heritage Are all of you taking 10 minutes each? canals; five national marine conservation areas and one national ur‐ ban park. [Translation] The protected areas help restore the health of ecosystems, build Mr. Andrew Campbell (Senior Vice-President, Operations, their resilience and contribute to the recovery of species at risk— Parks Canada Agency): It will probably take a total of 15 min‐ utes. [Translation] The Chair: Thank you. Who's going first? Is there a problem? Mr. Andrew Campbell: I am. Thank you. ● (0850) Good morning. I would like to begin by saying how honoured we Ms. Laurel Collins (Victoria, NDP): The two interpretation are to be here this morning on unceded lands of the Algonquin, An‐ channels aren't working. ishinabek people. I'd also like to express our thanks to the chair and [English] to the members of the committee for inviting us to speak with you today. Our translation isn't working. 2 ENVI-04 February 27, 2020 The Chair: Could you try plugging it on the side? Sometimes its large, diverse and unique asset base. The ultimate goal of these that works. Maybe someone could help them. Is everybody else's capital investments is to ensure Canada's national parks and historic working? sites are a source of pride and enjoyment today and into the future. [Translation] You may continue, Mr. Campbell. Now I'd like to turn to my colleagues to highlight key directions Mr. Andrew Campbell: Is it working? Thank you. and a few accomplishments of Parks Canada over the past fiscal [English] year with regard to protecting and managing our treasured natural and cultural heritage. Protected areas help us restore the health of ecosystems, build re‐ silience and contribute to the recovery of species at risk, not only protecting biodiversity but also helping mitigate the impact of cli‐ ● (0855) mate change. National historic sites, whether they're sacred spaces, archaeo‐ logical sites, battlefields, heritage houses or historic districts, allow [Translation] Canadians to learn more about Canadian history, including the di‐ verse cultural communities that make up Canada and the history and culture of indigenous peoples. Ms. Upton, you may go ahead. Furthermore, Parks Canada places are an important part of local economies, helping welcome more than 25 million visitors to Canada's treasures, helping generate billions of dollars annually and [English] employing tens of thousands of people in urban settings, in rural communities and in the north of Canada. Ms. Darlene Upton (Vice-President, Protected Areas Estab‐ I'd like to quickly present an overview of the agency's priorities, lishment and Conservation, Parks Canada Agency): Thanks, which help guide our everyday work in meeting our important man‐ Andrew. date. First and foremost, Parks Canada places tell the stories of who we are, including the history, cultures and contributions of indige‐ Thanks, everyone. nous people. Together, through a collective commitment to her‐ itage, we are renewing the ways that these stories are brought to Canadians. Through natural conservation, we are working with oth‐ The agency will actively assist in meeting the goal of protecting er federal departments, provincial and territorial governments and biodiversity and conserving 25% of Canada's land and 25% of indigenous partners, both as a leader and as a trusted partner in ad‐ Canada's oceans by 2025. In collaboration with indigenous part‐ vancing the conservation goals of our country. ners, stakeholders and other levels of government, we're currently We are making impactful infrastructure investments. Parks working on two national park reserves and five marine conserva‐ Canada is protecting and conserving our national treasures while tion areas and exploring new opportunities. supporting local economies, employing Canadians across the coun‐ try and contributing to growth in the tourism sector. Investments in the heritage, visitor, waterway and highway infrastructure ensure In addition to this goal, the agency is a recognized international safe, high-quality and meaningful experiences for visitors, enabling leader in the effective management of protected areas. We ensure Canadians to discover nature and connect with history. Importantly, complete understanding of the biodiversity and ecosystem process‐ Parks Canada in many communities is one of the key anchors of es in our places, we monitor further ecological integrity and we economic sustainability, as the iconic places provide both economic take management action to restore ecosystems and recover species. opportunity and community spirit. In fact, we're one of the only national park systems in the world As an overview of our financial situation, Parks Canada's budget that has a fully developed and fully implemented system-wide eco‐ is approximately $1.7 billion in 2019-2020. Of this amount, ap‐ logical integrity monitoring program, consisting of more than 700 proximately $600 million is our ongoing permanent funding, of independent scientific measures that inform park-specific priorities which 75% comes from funds appropriated by Parliament and 25% and guide our investments in conservation. comes from revenues generated by the agency. The main sources of our revenues are admission fees, accommodations such as camping and land rent, and commercial operations. The remaining time-lim‐ Parks Canada is also one of three competent departments under ited portion of our budget primarily relates to capital funding in the the Species at Risk Act, with more than 200 species on Parks amount of $900 million in the current fiscal year. This capital por‐ Canada-managed lands. We are a partner in the implementation of tion is part of the $3.6 billion that the government has provided the pan-Canadian approach to transforming species at risk conser‐ over the past six years to Parks Canada to improve the condition of vation, with a focus on priority species, places and sectors. February 27, 2020 ENVI-04 3 Given the potential magnitude and diversity of climate change Some of the work of your committee has also contributed to the impacts on Parks Canada heritage places across the country, the studying of built heritage in Canada, producing in the last session agency is continuing to work to improve its understanding of cur‐ of Parliament the report entitled “Preserving Canada's Heritage: rent and future climate change impacts and to enhance its ability to The Foundation for Tomorrow” in 2017. This report made 17 rec‐ adapt through a variety of initiatives. This includes conducting a ommendations, many of them relating to the need for legislation to risk assessment and developing a carbon atlas and an adaptation protect federal heritage. As a result of this mandate being given to framework.