Peter Kent defends budget cuts in Environment Department and Parks Canada

OTTAWA – Environment Minister Peter Kent is dismissing opposition concerns about a significant decrease in visits to national parks, coinciding with $51 million in projected spending reductions at Parks Canada for the next year.

Kent defended the government’s budget cuts Tuesday in response to questions raised by NDP deputy environment critic Anne Minh Thu Quach at a House of Commons environment committee hearing.

He said the department and agency were respecting their mandates in a context of deficit reduction efforts across the government, while maintaining healthcare and social transfers to the provinces.

“Basically what we’re doing is resizing government and for Parks Canada, one must realize that we’re trying to refocus resources and Parks Canada, which is one of the best agencies I think in the world and a model for many countries’ national parks programs, is … focusing its services on the peak periods of usage.”

Quach said ski and snowshoe trails are also inaccessible at some parks in Quebec, Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta because the agency is relying on volunteers instead of paid staff for maintenance in the winter months.

“The Parks are open to the public, but there are no longer any (snow) trails for anyone,” said Quach, who represents a riding west of Montreal. “There’s a reduction in staff who have been replaced by volunteers, so the services aren’t consistent between the parks.”

Overall, the agency reported a nine per cent drop in visits to national parks and historic sites from 2007 to 2012. Quach suggested this was due to budget cuts to maintenance services as well as guides who are being replaced by signs.

Parks Canada CEO Alan Latourelle told the committee that some of the budget reductions were due to the end of specific one-time spending such as the twinning of the Trans-Canada highway in Banff National Park. Some of the reductions were also introduced as part of the 2012 budget.

Quach said the overall cuts, including Environment Canada’s decision to shut down the Montreal Biosphere, an educational conservation museum on the site of Expo ’67, are clashing with the department’s mandate to promote a safe and healthy environment.

In response to questions from Conservative MP James Lunney, Kent added that the government was hoping its recent efforts and funding to create Rouge National Urban Park in the Toronto region, will help young people connect with nature, while serving as a springboard for visits to other parks.

Kent also told the committee that the government was still studying how to improve legislation protecting species at risk, either through amendments or changes in implementation, and that it was consulting a new advisory panel of hunting groups as part of the process.

Answering questions from NDP environment critic Megan Leslie, Kent said the government hoped to propose regulations to reduce heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions from oil and gas pollution by the middle of the year. He said that the ongoing consultations with industry groups were aiming to ensure the draft version would be “as close to having agreement as possible” to avoid a lengthy consultation period.

An Alberta-based environmental policy research organization, the Pembina Institute, expressed concerns about Kent’s comments, noting that environmental and First Nations groups were not invited to participate in a special task force made up of representatives from Environment Canada, the Alberta government, and the oil and gas industry that meets monthly to discuss the regulations.

“Groups like ours have sent our ideas into Environment Canada, and obviously we hope our recommendations are being considered,” Clare Demerse, director of federal policy at the Pembina Institute told Postmedia News after learning about Kent’s remarks.

The federal government estimates that oilsands companies represent the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada that must be addressed in order to meet Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s target of reducing annual greenhouse gas pollution by 17 per cent below 2005 levels by 2020.

Original Article
Source: canada.com
Author:  Mike De Souza