Julie Miville-Dechêne, from Quebec.

[English]

Welcome, Ms. Adeline Salomonie.

I know nothing about this new national marine area which will be created in your region. Could you please, for us who know little about it, tell us why you are interested in conservation of this area? What will it bring to the Inuit people in concrete terms? Why are you in agreement with this project and what will it bring to you? What kinds of rights will be enhanced or not? We need to know a little bit more about this place up there.

As a short follow-up question, you said you were afraid that oil and gas development would happen. Was there any serious project on that front up there? Will this new protection prevent any kind of industrial or mining development? Would there be nothing?

I shouldn’t be saying “nothing” — this is not the right term. There would be no industry or no mining?

Thank you.

What clause did Dr. Lem want to amend?

In writing, but this is in two weeks.

Does she know which clauses she wants to amend?

Welcome back, Mr. Minister. Canada adopted the Aichi targets at COP 10 in 2010, pledging to protect 30% of its lands and waters by 2030. You mentioned this in your introductory remarks. If I understand correctly, the proportion of protected lands has reached 13.5%.

You talked about plans to establish other national parks and whatnot. Will the proposed new national parks enable you to achieve the objective? Will we hit the 30% target, or is that unlikely?

Let’s imagine we’re in the future. Is Gatineau Park one of the places you’re thinking of making into a national park? For a long time now, people have been saying the park is being abused, over-used and under-protected because it doesn’t have the same protections national parks get. When will a decision be made about that?

There’s hope.

I’ll get right into it so as not to waste a moment.

Let’s talk some more about Quebec. Recently, in March, the governments of Canada and Quebec announced their joint intention to begin the process to expand the boundaries of the Saguenay–St. Lawrence Marine Park. It is home to 2,200 species, some of which are vulnerable, such as the beloved beluga.

When will the park be expanded, and exactly what will you do to protect the belugas? There is a conflict between the region’s tourism needs and the belugas’ well-being. Will boats have to stay farther away? What’s the plan for humans and belugas?

There’s not enough yet, because the populations —