Bill C-7: The Saguenay - St. Lawrence Marine Park Act (LS-293E)

Royal Assent: 10 December 1997 Statutes of Canada 1997, c.37 N.B. Any substantive changes in this Legislative Summary which have been made since the preceding issue are indicated in bold print.

On 26 September 1997, Bill C-7, An Act to establish the Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park and to make a consequential amendment to another Act, received first reading in the House of Commons. An almost identical bill (Bill C-78), except for one or two amendments, largely of a technical nature, was introduced in the House of Commons on 12 December 1996 but died on the Order Paper when the last Parliament was dissolved. It is the proposed federal enabling legislation to effect an Agreement between Canada and Quebec, signed 6 April 1990, to create a marine park at the confluence of the Saguenay Fjord and the St. Lawrence estuary, and conserve and manage its marine resources. A similar bill, Bill 86, An Act respecting the Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park, was assented to in the Quebec National Assembly on 5 June 1997. The federal and provincial bills would give force to the principles of the 1990 Agreement, which included commitments: to conserve and manage park resources for present and future generations; to recognize park boundaries and the rights and jurisdiction of each government within those boundaries; and to share the costs involved. The complementary bills are similar but respect the responsibilities of each government as set out in the 1990 Agreement. For instance, while the Government of Quebec would retain ownership of the seabed and the sub-soil resources, the Government of Canada would continue to exercise its responsibility over such matters as navigation and fisheries. Existing laws would remain applicable in the park.

The federal-provincial Agreement of April 1990 represented years of coordinated conservation effort and the first time that the two governments had jointly agreed to establish a park and to coordinate their park activities. Since the signing of the Agreement, the two governments have continued collaborating on their legislative mandates, compliance strategies, emergency plans, and research and education programs to ensure protection of the area designated for the marine park.

Since as early as the 1970s, much of the impetus to safeguard the rich and diverse marine life in the Saguenay area has come from local pressure. Joint public consultations have already taken place twice; once in December 1990, regarding the boundaries of the park, and once in June 1993, to consider a development plan for the park. The first set of hearings resulted in a nearly 50% increase in the size of the park, from 746 square kilometres to 1,138 square kilometres. The second set of hearings, at which over 60 briefs were presented to the two levels of government, showed a broad interest in the proposal and led, on 4 October 1995, to the approval of a Management Plan for the marine park by the Minister of Canadian Heritage and the Quebec Minister of the Environment and Wildlife. The Plan, actually released in February 1996, provides a framework for all activities relating to the protection of the marine environment and development of the park. The additional intent is to contribute to job creation in the designated areas as well as to develop the tourism industry in the region. Funding was provided for in the February 1995 federal Budget and the federal contribution towards development and operating costs is to total $20.7 million over five years.

The Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park is part of a larger effort to protect Canada’s marine environment. On 12 July 1995, Canadian Heritage Minister Michel Dupuy announced the new National Marine Conservation Areas System Plan "Sea to Sea," under which Canada’s three oceans and the Great Lakes are to be divided into 29 distinct marine regions. The goal is to represent each natural marine region in a system of national marine conservation areas (NMCAs). To date there are four NMCAs: Fathom Five in Georgian Bay, a marine component of Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, Gwaii Haanas in the Queen Charlotte Islands of B.C. (represents two regions), and the Saguenay-St. Lawrence. Studies are underway to identify and judge the feasibility of establishing another 15 NMCAs for which Parks Canada intends to prepare an action plan. The present goal is to establish six more areas by the year 2000. On 14 October 1996, the Prime Minister announced the start of federal-provincial-public consultations on introducing an Act in Parliament in late 1997 or early 1998; the legislation would establish and administer a network of marine conservation areas which represent all of Canada’s marine regions.

C-7 sets out the proposed role of the Government of Canada in managing the marine park with the Government of Quebec; no transfer of land would be involved and each government would remain responsible for matters under its own jurisdiction within the park. The bill would allow for the creation of management bodies and plans and protection provisions. It would provide procedures for changing park boundaries and prescribe punishment for offences. A schedule outlines the lands and waters that would fall within the boundaries of the marine park, as shown in Figure 1. The map also identifies the adjoining terrestrial park, the provincial Saguenay Conservation Park, established by the Government of Quebec in 1982. A Co-ordination Zone, which includes the marine park and its surrounding region, is being established to serve as a focus for actions taken by the two governments, in co-operation with community partners, to protect the marine park.

The introductory clauses of Bill C-7 describe the proposed use of the park for educational, recreational and scientific and conservation purposes, where these activities may occur and what procedures would have to be followed to change park boundaries.

The bill (clause 5) identifies four zones for managing the park’s resources, as shown in Figure 2, but does not actually describe the different levels of protection encompassed by each. This information is described in the 1995 Management Plan. Zone I would protect rare, unique natural and cultural features that are sensitive to any kind of use. Zone II would protect similar features that can only support minimal forms of use. Zone III would permit recreational activities, while Zone IV would be accessible to many human use activities, including commercial shipping and fishing and natural resource harvesting. As with other aspects of the management regime proposed for the marine park, the specified characteristics applicable to each zone would be defined in regulations (clause 17). Likewise, the specifics of permitted activities would be the subject of regulations. Regulations could also prohibit certain activities not specified in the bill but that background material declares to be mining and energy exploration and production, and passage of oil, gas, and power transmission lines.

The administration of federal activities within the marine park would be under the control of the Minister (who would be designated by the Governor in Council and is currently the Minister of Canadian Heritage). The Minister could conduct any activities to advance ecosystem knowledge, enter into intergovernmental agreements, would have to allow for public participation, and could issue and cancel permits. He or she, in concert with his/her provincial counterpart, would have to table a Management Plan for the marine park within one year of the coming into force of the Act. The Plan, would have to be reviewed by the two Ministers at least once every seven years (clause 9). The Management Plan is intended to act as a coordinating mechanism to foster conservation on the part of all participants. The following sections cover some of the institutional arrangements designed to assist this process.

C-7 would provide statutory authority for a joint Canada-Quebec harmonization management committee, which is already operating and consists of senior executives of both governments whose objective is to harmonize the management of the park and the regulations being proposed under this bill. The term "harmonization" committee reflects a change in the terminology of the Quebec bill passed in June. The earlier provincial and federal bills called the oversight committee a "management" committee. The new term was chosen to better reflect the role of the committee, which is to harmonize federal and provincial activities within the park. There is also provision for a coordinating committee to allow local input into and follow-up of the Management Plan. The Minister would have the power to decide on the coordinating committee’s composition; guidelines to this effect have already been set out in the Management Plan. According to the Plan, the committee comprises representatives from each of the federal, provincial, and four regional governments, the Montagnais Essipit Band Council, the scientific community, and a conservation group. The mandate at present being fulfilled by the coordinating committee is to ensure follow-up on the Management Plan and to counsel the Ministers responsible for the Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park on the strategies and methods necessary to attain goals defined in the Plan.

The remainder of the bill is mostly devoted to the enforcement officers’ powers to control unsanctioned activities within the park, including their authority to conduct searches, with and without warrants, and to make arrests. Clause 20 outlines the punishment the court may impose on persons and corporations found guilty of an offence under the Act or regulations involving fines of $10,000 for a person and $100,000 for a corporation on a summary conviction, or $20,000 for a person and $500,000 for a corporation on an indictable offence. The court could also order compensation for any remedial action necessary.

For more minor offences, enforcement officers could issue tickets that allowed appropriate levels of fines, to be paid within a specified period (clause 23).

Parks Canada is the federal agency responsible for implementing National Marine Park Areas such as the Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park. The agency has set itself the ambitious goal of representing 29 marine regions in its system of national marine conservation areas. The Auditor General in his November 1996 report criticized Parks Canada for not having a strategic plan for completing the establishment of the NMPAs within a specified time period. Parks Canada, for its part, feels it needs more experience in managing these areas before it forges ahead to create more. At present, Parliament must approve all new parks and all changes to existing parks; the Auditor General considers this to be a cumbersome process. Nevertheless, in relation to Canada’s national park system, the process does ensure some accountability to Parliament, and ultimately to the public. After all, national parks are owned by all Canadians and purportedly managed on their behalf.

In summary, the proposed legislation would essentially give statutory force to a federal-provincial management regime that is already in operation. The commitments are outlined in the 1990 Agreement to which the federal and provincial bills would give legislative sanction. While Bill C-7 sketches out the proposed management framework for the marine park, as mentioned, the essence of the regime would be found in the regulations. Clause 17 would allow the Governor in Council to make regulations about protection, its terms and conditions, controls over activities, permits, fines for minor offences and "any other matters that are necessary for carrying out the purposes of this Act." To cite an example, there is little in the bill, other than the Preamble, that relates to a conservation ethic — upholding this ethic would depend on the strength of the regulations. Fortunately, the Management Plan is much clearer on protective strategies. The Plan is, of course, much easier to alter than legislation would be; in other words, the Plan could be changed to diminish or to increase protection of the marine resources. Meanwhile, the two governments are at present working in consultation with stakeholders on drafting and harmonizing regulations for the marine park. Until this process is completed, it is not obvious how effective the legislation will be in protecting the unique marine environment of the Saguenay-St. Lawrence Rivers.