Canada National Parks Act

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Canada National Parks Act
Act of Parliament

The Canada National Parks Act (French : Loi sur les parcs nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian federal law that regulates protection of natural areas of national significance. As of March 2019, the Canada National Parks Act extended federal protection to 47 national parks and park reserves across the country covering more the 300,000 km2 of habitat. [1] [2] The current Canada National Parks Act received royal assent on October 20, 2000 and has been amended since. [3] The first national parks act in Canada was created in 1887 shortly following the creation of the world's first national park, Yellowstone National Park, in the United States. In 1911, under a renewed national parks act, Canada became the first country in the world to establish their own national parks service. [4]

Contents

Over the course of its history, the predecessor National Parks Act struggled to define the primary intention of national parks by trying to balance parks as places both of conservation and public leisure. [5] Remarks made by the Canadian Minister of Environment and Climate Change in 2018 signalled a renewed commitment by the Parks Canada agency to ecological conservation within national parks. [6] Early legislation in Canada applied exclusionary policies and forcibly removed Indigenous peoples off lands in order to create national parks. [7] With developments in the legal recognition of Aboriginal title and rights in Canada, provisions have been included within the National Parks Act to extend the right of traditional harvesting activities within national park reserves with some cases altering park management to be shared between the Parks Canada agency and local Indigenous groups. [3]

History of the Canada National Parks Act

1887—the Rocky Mountains Park Act

Banff National Park Pavilion, circa 1920 Banff National Park Pavilion, circa 1920.jpg
Banff National Park Pavilion, circa 1920

Greatly inspired by the creation of Yellowstone National Park in the United States in 1872, the Rocky Mountains Park Act established the first distinctive national parks legislation in Canada and provided for the creation of the country's first national park, Rocky Mountain Park (now Banff National Park). [8] [9] Lobbied heavily for by the Canadian Pacific Railway, the Act outlined the national parks model which balanced conservation as well as development. [10] [8] The Act established the management of the park and its resources to be under the authority of the Minister of the Interior and the Governor in Council. [11] The Rocky Mountains Park Act also prohibited the settlement or occupation of any of the park’s area, giving the Minister of the Interior and Governor in Council the right to remove trespassers. [11]

1911—the Dominion Forest Reserves and Parks Act

Passed by the government of Sir Wilfrid Laurier, the Dominion Forest Reserves and Parks Act received royal assent on May 19, 1911. [12] One of the most significant results of the Act was that it created the Dominion Parks Branch as a new branch of the Department of the Interior to oversee the administration of federal parks. [13] [14] [12] Incidentally the Dominion Parks Branch was the first national parks service in the world to be established and James Bernard Harkin was made its first commissioner. [15] Inspired by American environmentalist, John Muir, Harkin oversaw the number of parks in Canada triple (from 6–18). [13]

1930—the National Parks Act

Arising from years of dissatisfaction from Commissioner Harkin and his administration, the National Parks Act, which was implemented in 1930, replaced the administration of the national parks from the Dominion Forest Reserves and Parks Act. [16] Unlike in earlier legislation, the general purpose section (section 4) of the National Parks Act (1930) stated that national parks are spaces of nature to “be maintained and made use of so as to leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.” [17] [18] Such phrasing in the Act has led to it being recognized as the foundation upon which subsequent ecological protection within national parks has been based. However, economic development remained a prominent role of parks. [18] [19]

2000—the Canada National Parks Act

The Canada National Parks Act, which received royal assent in 2000, applies the strongest conservation language to date making the maintenance and restoration of ecological integrity within national parks its number one priority. [5] [3] Section 32 of the Act, Mitigation of Environmental Damage, implements the legal requirement of anyone who is responsible for environmental damage within a park to take measures to prevent environmental degradation and danger to flora and fauna. [3] If the responsible person does not comply, they are liable for the expenses of those measures which would be performed by the federal government. Despite this commitment to ecological protection, the Canada National Parks Act continues to apply the historic dualism between development and conservation by dedicating the national parks to "the people of Canada for their benefit, education and enjoyment" (2000, c.32, s.4). [3] [5]

Park lands

National parks

Banff Park--Canada's first National Park Banff National Park - Lake Herbert.jpg
Banff Park—Canada's first National Park

The Act enables Parks Canada to designate and maintain national parks and national park reserves. Within these, additional wilderness areas may be designated. Natural resources in protected areas are dedicated to the "benefit, education and enjoyment" of the people of Canada. Development in the national parks has to be authorized by Parks Canada, subject to the provisions of this Act.

National Park Reserves

National park reserves are defined as protected areas that have not yet been brought under federal jurisdiction due to outstanding matters (such as aboriginal rights). The Canada National Parks Act applies to park reserves as if they were parks apart from sections 40 to 41.4 which stipulate the right of Aboriginal people to practice traditional renewable resource harvesting activities within the park reserve boundaries. [3]

Nahanni National Park Reserve was one of the first established park reserves in Canada. Nahanni - VirginiaFalls.jpg
Nahanni National Park Reserve was one of the first established park reserves in Canada.

In 1972, Kluane National Park Reserve and Nahanni National Park Reserve became the first areas to be established as park reserves. The park reserves share management of the land between Parks Canada and local First Nations. [20] [21] [22]

Wilderness areas

Wilderness areas are lands within national parks, that are found in a natural state or are capable of returning to a natural state. Any activity that may impair the wilderness character of these areas is restricted, with the possible exception of activities regarding public safety, basic visitor facilities and park administration.

Indigenous peoples and park lands

Exclusionary policies

Many of Canada's national parks were established on the traditional lands of Indigenous peoples and it has been argued that early national parks were used as tools of colonialism. Although today Parks Canada promotes itself as working closely with a number of Indigenous groups as partners in the management of many national park reserves, past national parks acts explicitly excluded Indigenous peoples from parklands. [23] In some cases, Indigenous people were forcibly removed from areas that would become national parks, while in others, Indigenous people were encouraged to sell or trade their reserves for lands outsides of the park. [7]

The creation of Canada’s first national park, Banff National Park (then Rocky Mountains National Park), barred the Stoney Nakoda First Nation from the parklands where they had previously hunted and travelled. [24] [25] [23] Similarly in 1907, with the creation of Jasper National Park, Métis families who had been living in the area were suddenly declared "squatters". [25] [26] The Rocky Mountains Park Act (1887) explicitly stated the provision by which people could be removed from the land. Sections 3 and 4 of the Rocky Mountains Act stated that "no person shall locate, settle upon, use or occupy any portion of the said public park" and gave the Minister of the Interior and Governor in Council the right to make regulations for "the removal and exclusion of trespassers". [27]

While these policies of forcible removal of Indigenous people on park lands were practised under the name of conservation, the government of Canada was simultaneously building permanent towns within parks to house tourists in early national parks such as Banff and Jasper. [25] [24]

Reintegration of cultural landscapes in National Parks Act

Since the early 1970s, Parks Canada has adopted more inclusive policies in the development of new national parks. Many of the changes within Parks Canada has been driven by legal precedent in Canada regarding Aboriginal title to land. The landmark Calder Case which eventually led to the development of the federal government's Comprehensive land claim process in particular pushed the Parks Canada Agency to enhance their relationship with Indigenous people in Canada . [23] [28] [29]

The introduction of the first national park reserves by Parks Canada in 1972 signalled a shift in the agency's idea of Aboriginal rights within national parks. [29] In 1974, the National Parks Act was further amended to include provisions for traditional hunting and fishing within national park reserves. This was the first time that Parks Canada had adopted the concept of cultural landscapes and park reserves became a new concept as land set out for a future national park pending the settlement of an unresolved land claim. [5]

Section 40 of Canada National Parks Act (2000) stipulates the right of traditional harvesting by stating, "the application of this Act to a park reserve is subject to the carrying on of traditional renewable resource harvesting activities by aboriginal persons" (2000, c.32, s.40). [3]

Ecological integrity of national parks

Section 8(2) of the Canada National Parks Act (2000) outlines the maintenance or restoration of ecological integrity of national parks as the main priority for the Parks Canada Agency (though some have questioned Parks Canada's commitment to this pledge). [30]

According to the Canada National Parks Act, ecological integrity within a national park is defined as "a condition that is determined to be characteristic of its natural region and likely to persist, including abiotic components and the composition and abundance of native species and biological communities, rates of change and supporting processes". [3] [31] This means that ecosystems are considered to have ecological integrity when their native components, such as physical elements, biodiversity and ecosystem processes, are intact.

In their 2016 Parks Report, the environmental organization, Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS), raised a concern about whether the Parks Canada Agency was effectively implementing the Canada National Parks Act's commitment to conservation. They highlighted that only 13% of the Parks Canada Agency's spending on national parks was dedicated to spending on conservation specifically. [30] In response to such criticism, Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine Mckenna promised a renewed focus of the Agency on conservation within parks with special attention to protecting ecological integrity and implementing more science-based decision-making. [6]

A 2018 study by Environment and Climate Change Canada, found that, of 118 ecosystems assessed in 42 of the national parks, the majority of park ecosystems are in stable condition although freshwater and tundra ecosystems are experiencing the highest rates of poor ecological integrity with a declining trend. [32]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jasper National Park</span> National park in Alberta, Canada

Jasper National Park, in Alberta, Canada, is the largest national park within Alberta's Rocky Mountains, spanning 11,000 km2 (4,200 sq mi). It was established as Jasper Forest Park in 1907, renamed as a national park in 1930, and declared a UNESCO world heritage site in 1984. Its location is north of Banff National Park and west of Edmonton. The park contains the glaciers of the Columbia Icefield, springs, lakes, waterfalls and mountains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Banff National Park</span> National park in Alberta, Canada

Banff National Park is Canada's oldest national park, established in 1885 as Rocky Mountains Park. Located in Alberta's Rocky Mountains, 110–180 kilometres (68–112 mi) west of Calgary, Banff encompasses 6,641 square kilometres (2,564 sq mi) of mountainous terrain, with many glaciers and ice fields, dense coniferous forest, and alpine landscapes. Provincial forests and Yoho National Park are neighbours to the west, while Kootenay National Park is located to the south and Kananaskis Country to the southeast. The main commercial centre of the park is the town of Banff, in the Bow River valley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parks Canada</span> Government agency

Parks Canada, is the agency of the Government of Canada which manages the country's 48 National Parks, three National Marine Conservation Areas, 172 National Historic Sites, one National Urban Park, and one National Landmark. Parks Canada is mandated to "protect and present nationally significant examples of Canada's natural and cultural heritage, and foster public understanding, appreciation, and enjoyment in ways that ensure their ecological and commemorative integrity for present and future generations".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National parks of Canada</span> Parks owned and maintained by the federal government of Canada

National Parks of Canada are vast natural spaces throughout the country that are protected by Parks Canada, a government agency. Parks Canada manages the National Parks and Reserves in order to educator visitors, keep them safe, and ensure public enjoyment in ways that do not compromise the area for future generations. Protections include the management of Canadian wildlife and habitat within the ecosystems of the park. Within Parks Canada's governance is a wide range of protected areas, encompassing National Historic Sites, National Marine Conservation Areas (NMCA), and national park reserves. Canada established its first national park in Banff in 1885, and has since expanded its national park system to include 37 national parks and 10 national park reserves.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waterton Lakes National Park</span> National park in Alberta, Canada

Waterton Lakes National Park is in the southwest corner of Alberta, Canada. The national park borders Glacier National Park in Montana, United States. Waterton was the fourth Canadian national park, formed in 1895 as Kootenay Lakes Forest Reserve. It is named after Waterton Lake, in turn after the Victorian naturalist and conservationist Charles Waterton. Its range is between the Rocky Mountains and prairies. This park contains 505 km2 (195 sq mi) of rugged mountains and wilderness.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wapusk National Park</span> National park in Manitoba, Canada

Wapusk National Park (; is Canada's 37th national park, established in 1996. The name comes from the Cree word for polar bear.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Riding Mountain National Park</span> National park in Manitoba, Canada

Riding Mountain National Park is a national park in Manitoba, Canada. The park is located within Treaty 2 Territory and sits atop the Manitoba Escarpment. Consisting of a protected area 2,969 km2 (1,146 sq mi), the forested parkland stands in sharp contrast to the surrounding prairie farmland. It was designated a national park because it protects three different ecosystems that converge in the area; grasslands, upland boreal and eastern deciduous forests. It is most easily reached by Highway 10 which passes through the park. The south entrance is at the townsite of Wasagaming, which is the only commercial centre within the park boundaries.

The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) (French: la Société pour la nature et les parcs du Canada (SNAP)) was founded in 1963 to help protect Canada's wilderness.

Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative or Y2Y is a transboundary Canada–United States not-for-profit organization that aims to connect and protect the 2,000 miles Yellowstone-to-Yukon region. Its mission proposes to maintain and restore habitat integrity and connectivity along the spine of North America's Rocky Mountains stretching from the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem to Canada's Yukon Territory. It is the only organization dedicated to securing the long-term ecological health of the region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Protected areas of Canada</span> Areas protected for conservation or historical reasons

Protected areas of Canada consist of approximately 12.1 percent of the nation's landmass and freshwater are considered conservation areas, including 11.4 percent designated as protected areas. Approximately 13.8 percent of Canada's territorial waters are conserved, including 8.9 percent designated as protected areas. Terrestrial areas conserved have increased by 65 percent in the 21st century, while marine areas conserved have increased by more than 3,800 percent.

Spatsizi Plateau Wilderness Provincial Park is located in the northern portion of British Columbia, Canada, approximately 698, 659 hectares and encompasses the Spatsizi River and Gladys Lake Ecological Reserve. The park is a designated protected area that is intended for the conservation and research on caribou, grizzly bears, fish, and other wildlife species populations. Before the provincial park's establishment in 1975, the area was a historical hunting ground for local Indigenous communities like the Tahltan First Nations. It is the second largest provincial park in British Columbia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boreal Cordillera</span> Canadian terrestrial ecozone

The Boreal Cordillera Ecozone, as defined by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), is a Canadian terrestrial ecozone occupying most of the northern third of British Columbia and southern half of Yukon. Within it is found Kluane National Park and Reserve, and a small portion of the southern range of Nahanni National Park Reserve. Most of the area's population is based in the city of Whitehorse, and it contains most of Yukon's population. The portion in British Columbia is barely populated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nááts'ihch'oh National Park Reserve</span> National park reserve in Northwest Territories, Canada

Náátsʼihchʼoh National Park Reserve is a Canadian national park reserve encompassing parts of the South Nahanni River watershed in the Northwest Territories. The name means "stands like a porcupine" in the Dene language. The national park reserve covers an area of 4,850 km2 (1,873 sq mi), protecting the Sahtú Settlement Area of the upper South Nahanni River watershed, adjoining Nahanni National Park Reserve. The two areas are to be managed separately, similar to Banff and Jasper National Parks which are also side by side. The South Nahanni watershed is home to several endangered species, including grizzly bears and boreal woodland caribou. The area is also known for its moose, Dall sheep and the northernmost population of mountain goats in Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wildlife of Canada</span> Overview of the wildlife of Canada

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harvey Locke</span> Canadian conservationist

Harvey Locke is a Canadian conservationist, writer, and photographer. He is a recognized global leader in the field of parks, wilderness, wildlife and large landscape conservation. He is a founder of the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative, with the goal to create a continuous corridor for wildlife from Yellowstone National Park in the United States to the Yukon in Northern Canada. In 2017, Locke was appointed chair of the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas Beyond the Aichi Targets Task Force, with the goal of ensuring the new global conservation targets set at the next Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity in 2020 are meaningful for achieving the conservation of nature and halting of biodiversity loss.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of bison conservation in Canada</span>

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The Rocky Mountains Forest Reserve is a tract of land owned by the government of the Canadian province of Alberta along the eastern slopes and foothills of the Albertan section of the Canadian Rockies. It is a long strip of land just east of the more famous Canadian Rocky Mountain parks, which is managed for forest and water conservation, public recreation, and industrial goals, rather than aesthetic and preservation goals, as in the Rocky Mountain parks.

Co-management, also known as community-based management, community-based resource management, cooperative management, joint management, and collaborative management, in the broadest terms refers to the administration of a particular place or resource being shared between multiple local and state management systems. Although co-management encompasses a spectrum of power-sharing arrangements, in the Canadian context it typically refers to agreements between government agencies and representatives of Indigenous peoples in Canada to jointly make land use and resource management decisions about a tract of government-controlled land or resource (e.g.fishery.).

References

Notes

  1. ↑ Parks Canada Agency, Government of Canada (2017-08-25). "Find a national park - National Parks". www.pc.gc.ca. Parks Canada. Retrieved 2019-03-24.
  2. ↑ "National Parks of Canada". The Canadian Encyclopedia . Retrieved September 7, 2019.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Canada National Parks Act, SC 2000, c 32". canlii.ca. Retrieved 2019-03-24.
  4. ↑ "Creation of the Dominion Parks Branch National Historic Event". www.pc.gc.ca. Parks Canada. Retrieved 2019-03-26.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Campbell 2011, p. 11.
  6. 1 2 Pope, Alexandra (2018-05-07). "Parks Canada to take 'nature first' approach to managing national parks". Canadian Geographic. Retrieved 2019-04-08.
  7. 1 2 Cardinal, Nathan. “The Question of Aboriginal Harvesting in Canada’s National Parks,” September 2008, 3.
  8. 1 2 Lothian, W. F. (1987). A brief history of Canada's national parks. Environment Canada, Parks Canada. p. 22. ISBN   0662152174. OCLC   756986095.
  9. ↑ "A History of Canada's National Parks: Chapter 4 National Parks Administration (1885 to 1973). Vol. II". parkscanadahistory.com. 2013.
  10. ↑ Binnema, T., and M. Niemi. “‘Let the Line Be Drawn Now’: Wilderness, Conservation, and the Exclusion of Aboriginal People from Banff National Park in Canada.” Environmental History 11, no. 4 (October 1, 2006): 724–50. doi : 10.1093/envhis/11.4.724.
  11. 1 2 "Parks Canada History: Rocky Mountains Park Act, 1887". parkscanadahistory.com. Retrieved 2019-03-26.
  12. 1 2 "A History of Canada's National Parks: Chapter 4 National Parks Administration (1885 to 1973). Vol. II". Parks Canada. 2013.
  13. 1 2 McNamee, Kevin (1996). "A History of Parks Canada". Nature Canada. 25 (4): 39–41.
  14. ↑ Shoalts, Adam (April 2011). "How Our National Parks Evolved: From Grey Owl to Chrétien and beyond, 100 Years of Parks Canada". National Geographic.
  15. ↑ "Creation of the Dominion Parks Branch National Historic Event". www.pc.gc.ca. Retrieved 2019-03-26.
  16. ↑ "A History of Canada's National Parks: Chapter 4 National Parks Administration (1885 to 1973). Vol. II". Parks Canada. 2013.
  17. ↑ "Parks Canada History: The National Parks Act, 1930". parkscanadahistory.com. Retrieved 2019-03-26.
  18. 1 2 Waiser, Bill (2012), "A Case of Special Privilege and Fancied Right", A Century of Parks Canada, 1911-2011, University of Calgary Press, pp. 103–132, doi:10.2307/j.ctv6cfrjf.7, ISBN   9781552385272
  19. ↑ Kopas, Paul Sheldon (2007). Taking the air : ideas and change in Canada's national parks. UBC Press. ISBN   9780774813297. OCLC   243580294.
  20. ↑ Parks Canada, Canadian Heritage Rivers System, and Unesco. Kluane National Park and Reserve of Canada Management Plan, 2010. Ottawa: Parks Canada, 2010. http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/200/301/parkscanada/kluane_nat_park_mgnt_plan-ef/R64-105-94-2010-eng.pdf .
  21. ↑ "Kluane National Park Management Board | Yukon Territory". kluanenpmb. Retrieved 2019-04-08.
  22. ↑ Parks Canada, Canadian Heritage Rivers System, and UNESCO. Nahanni National Park Reserve of Canada Management Plan, 2010. Parks Canada, 2010. https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/pn-np/nt/nahanni/info/plan/plan4 .
  23. 1 2 3 Langdon, Steve, Rob Prosper, and Nathalie Gagnon. “Two Paths One Direction: Parks Canada and Aboriginal Peoples Working Together.” The George Wright Forum 27, no. 2 (2010): 12.
  24. 1 2 Binnema, T., and M. Niemi. “‘Let the Line Be Drawn Now’: Wilderness, Conservation, and the Exclusion of Aboriginal People from Banff National Park in Canada.” Environmental History 11, no. 4 (October 1, 2006): 724–50. doi : 10.1093/envhis/11.4.724.
  25. 1 2 3 Youdelis, Megan. “‘They Could Take You out for Coffee and Call It Consultation!’: The Colonial Antipolitics of Indigenous Consultation in Jasper National Park.” Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space 48, no. 7 (July 2016): 1374–92. doi : 10.1177/0308518X16640530.
  26. ↑ Murphy, Peter J. (2007). "Homesteading the Upper Athabasca Valley to 1910". In MacLaren, I.S. (ed.). Culturing Wilderness in Jasper National Park: Studies in Two Centuries in the Human History of the Upper Athabasca. Edmonton: University of Alberta Press. p. 128. ISBN   9780888644831.
  27. ↑ "Parks Canada History: Rocky Mountains Park Act, 1887". parkscanadahistory.com. Retrieved 2019-03-26.
  28. ↑ Salomans, Tanisha. "Calder Case". Indigenous Foundations.
  29. 1 2 Foster, Hamar (2008). Let Right Be Done: Aboriginal Title, the Calder Case, and the Future of Indigenous Rights. University of British Columbia Press. ISBN   9780774814041. OCLC   225876190.
  30. 1 2 “Protecting Canada’s National Parks: A Call for Renewed Commitment to Nature Conservation.” Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society 2016 Parks Report, 2016. https://cpaws.org/uploads/CPAWS-Parks-Report-2016.pdf .
  31. ↑ Parks Canada (2018-05-02). "Ecological Integrity". www.pc.gc.ca. Parks Canada.
  32. ↑ Environment and Climate Change Canada (2018) Ecological Integrity of National Parks, 2018.
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