Thank you very much.

Honourable senators, thank you for the invitation to discuss Bill S-14. With me here today is Andrew Campbell, Senior Vice-President, Operations.

I would like to start by recognizing that we are meeting today on the unceded and traditional territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabe people.

As you know, the Government of Canada introduced Bill S-14 in the Senate on October 19, 2023.

[Translation]

The bill before you proposes amendments that would see more than 12 million hectares formally protected under the Canada National Parks Act and the Canada National Marine Conservation Areas Act.

The Canada National Parks Act and the Canada National Marine Conservation Areas Act will be amended to finalize the establishment of Akami-Uapishk^U-KakKasuak-Mealy Mountains National Park Reserve and the establishment of Tallurutiup Imanga National Marine Conservation Area, once the interim management plan is complete.

Additionally, the Canada National Parks Act will be amended to formally update the boundaries of seven existing national parks and one national park reserve.

[English]

While these lands are already managed or under the administration of Parks Canada, this legislation will ensure that they receive the full protections of the Canada National Parks Act, the Canada National Marine Conservation Areas Act and associated regulations. This is the final critical step to ensuring that these lands are protected for current and future generations.

The legislation also includes six housekeeping amendments that will align the Canada National Parks Act and the Rouge National Urban Park Act with the modern legislative environment and strengthen the tools used to operate and manage Parks Canada’s network of protected areas.

Honourable senators, Parks Canada administered places are a source of shared pride for all Canadians. They are also world renowned as places of shared stewardship with over 300 First Nations, Metis and Inuit peoples.

National historic sites, national parks, and national marine conservation areas represent the very best that Canada has to offer and tell stories of who we are, including the histories, cultures, and contributions of Indigenous peoples. As I have already intimated Parks Canada does not do this important work alone.

In particular, since the Constitution Act of 1982, the creation and expansion of national parks, reserves, and marine conservation areas in Canada involves extensive consultation and collaboration with a variety of partners and stakeholders, including provincial, territorial, and Indigenous governments, groups, and communities.

It’s important to acknowledge that it was not always this way.

In many past instances, when the Government of Canada designated heritage places, lands were expropriated from settlers to Canada and Indigenous peoples were separated, often forcibly, from their ancestral lands and waters. Connections were severed by policies that resulted in intergenerational harm through loss of Indigenous knowledge, cultures and identities. Many heritage places administered by Parks Canada have seen a transition over time to our current context. Today, lands are acquired from willing sellers, donated or transferred from another level of government or from another federal department. Most importantly, Parks Canada strives to work collaboratively with Indigenous peoples in this regard, often creating formal agreements to acknowledge rights and recognition of land.

As mentioned early in my remarks, Parks Canada is currently engaged with more than 300 First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities across this country, collaborating in the conservation, restoration and presentation of natural and cultural heritage. Let me be clear that the lands included in Bill S-14 would not be before you today to include in permanent protection without extensive consultation and negotiation with Indigenous governments and communities, provincial and territorial governments, and local communities, including regional stakeholders.

For example, in the case of Akami-Uapishku-KakKasuak-Mealy Mountains National Park Reserve, there are several agreements with Indigenous governments and organizations, and the province clearly stating that Parks Canada is committed to establishing this site as a national park reserve. This includes agreements with the Labrador Innu, the NunatuKavut Community Council and the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. These agreements were the result of lengthy discussions, negotiations and consultations.

Taking years of consultation, negotiation and relationship building, the final step for a protected area is when it is written into legislation. With the tabling of Bill S-14, Akami-Uapishku-KakKasuak-Mealy Mountains National Park Reserve and Tallurutiup Imanga National Marine Conservation Area have reached this final step of the process, and Indigenous communities have asked for additional measures to be added to bring these areas into force.

As one might imagine, each project will have its own unique set of circumstances to be considered and different partners and stakeholders to be consulted. The expansion of Tuktut Nogait National Park included in the bill is a good example. The park covers more than 16,000 square kilometres in the northeastern part of the Northwest Territories, within the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, as defined by the Inuvialuit Final Agreement land claim. The park was first proposed by the community of Paulatuk in 1988, as a way to protect the calving grounds of the Bluenose-West caribou herd. In fact, the name Tuktut Nogait means “young caribou” in Inuvialuktun. Bill S-14 would increase the park area by some 11 percent, adding another 1,800 or so square kilometres and expand the park into the Sahtu Settlement Area.

Under the Sahtu Dene and Métis Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement, Canada committed to consult the Sahtu Dene and Métis on any national park proposal within their settlement area. In 2000, Sahtu Secretariat Incorporated formally requested that the federal government initiate negotiations to establish the Sahtu portion of the park. The consultation process, with respect to section 35 obligations that followed, included meetings with elders, and door-to-door interviews with community members from Paulatuk, Délı̨nę, and Colville Lake. It also included direct communication with the Délı̨nę First Nation, Ayoni Keh Land Corporation and the Sahtu Secretariat Incorporated.

In addition, in 2022, a preliminary screening for the proposed addition to the national park was done as required by the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act. The screening documents were shared with over 40 parties, none of which expressed any concerns about the proposed expansion of the park.

I would note that the park is managed by the Tuktut Nogait Management Board, which comprises members appointed by or on the advice of the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, the Inuvialuit Game Council, the Paulatuk Community Corporation, the Paulatuk Hunters and Trappers Committee, the Délı̨nę Got’įnę Government, and the governments of the Northwest Territories and Canada.

A similar approach to consulting Indigenous communities and other stakeholders, including tourism operators and the public, was done for all of the protected areas affected by this bill. In the case of Indigenous communities specifically, all have either stated their support for the inclusion of lands in the Canada National Parks Act or the Canada National Marine Conservation Areas Act, and none have put forward objections. Provincial and territorial governments affected by the proposals in the bill are supportive, as are other stakeholders.

Honourable Senators, Parks Canada has done the work to garner Indigenous, provincial, territorial and public support for this bill. I would respectfully recommend that the Senate support this bill. Thank you.

Thank you very much for the questions. That was a lot of information there.

With regard to the lands included in Bill S-14, they are counted toward Canada’s protected areas in terms of achieving 25% of protected lands by 2025 and contributing toward 30 by 30 as well.

In addition to that, Parks Canada is also engaged in the establishment of 10 new national parks and 10 new national marine conservation areas, along with 10 national urban parks. That’s part of the expansion program to continue to contribute toward 30 by 30.

With regard to your question about biodiversity, the ecological values and the selection of lands, when we are identifying sites across it’s the country, we’re using a variety of things. One is, in fact, the biodiversity, the existence of ecosystems, the protection, the amount of undisturbed territory and those sorts of things. There is a site identification stage to new park establishment, as well as a feasibility stage where we work and consult with partners, identify potential boundaries and at that point are doing a thorough assessment of the feasibility. At that point, it includes an inventory of biodiversity, species, natural habitat, cultural connections and Indigenous knowledge. All of those aspects are studied during the feasibility stage for the establishment of a new place or the addition of lands.

With regard to indicators, each of our national parks have a monitoring indicator suite where we do resource conservation, research, study and monitoring own an ongoing basis. Some of our older parks that were established decades ago have a long history of data gathering and analysis to be able to track the ecosystem health of each of these national places over a period of time. We are seeing external climate change impacts in all of our places. Some of those we can address and mitigate through active management of, for instance, restoration and species movement and a variety of resource conservation projects that take place in our parks with our scientific staff. In other cases, we are able to contribute to the body of knowledge within the country and internationally with regard to the impacts of various types of climate change in our places.

In terms of which indicators, they each have different indicators depending on the situation which the park derives. But that is part of the early stages, as we have scientific and feasibility studies that inform the appropriate suite of indicators to use as an ongoing monitoring program for that park.

I think I’ve touched on a few things.

Thank you for the question.

As you know, coming from Banff National Park, you see a significant number of tourists every year. The tourism economy is certainly one way in which Parks Canada contributes to the gross domestic product. All of these in some shape or form contribute to local economies. They create jobs. The infrastructure is a capital investment over time, both in terms of maintenance and capital infrastructure — the engagement of the private sector, for instance. Our land claims negotiations with Indigenous communities ensure employment, ensure access in some cases and generate some small-scale tourism offers, even in our northern parks where Indigenous partners are often providing logistical support or various types of touring opportunities to engage the public.

In terms of some statistics, across the country, Parks Canada is a renowned tourism operator, welcoming close to 25 million visitors per year. In many of our places, our national parks are iconic. The Parks Canada brand is a strong one. It is a recognized park system and world-renowned in that regard, and we’re seen as a park system that’s second to none.

That does, in many cases — for example, in our national urban park program — create an environment where partners do want to see Parks Canada’s presence. They do want to see our investment, our promotional reach and our ability to continue to foster economic growth in communities.

An example is the infrastructure investments that we’ve done across the country over the last eight years — for instance, with over $3 billion of infrastructure investment. Having come from Atlantic Canada myself, the private sector contribution to some of these places during the winter months, for instance, was significant. I had mayors come to me when I was in Prince Edward Island National Park and even in the waterways and express that they’re seeing construction workers staying in tourism facilities in the winter because of the machinery around the infrastructure, development and economic spinoffs that are generated by that. Certainly from a municipal standpoint, Parks Canada does bring the contributions and ability for other partners to leverage that economic growth.