State of Protected Heritage Areas for the period ending March 31, 2005

Minister's Message

Over the one-year period covered by this report, Parks Canada began a new chapter in its history of protecting and presenting Canada's protected heritage areas. A chapter in which the Agency finalized important agreements that will lead to the establishment of our 42nd national park in the Torngat Mountains of Labrador, and that saw the Agency open the Canada Marine Discovery Centre in Hamilton, Ontario. Many successes were also achieved in the protection and presentation of Canada's built heritage, including the tremendous progress that has been made toward the full implementation of the Historic Places Initiative, but many challenges still confront the Agency in its work to achieve the important mandate entrusted to it by Canadians.

In its efforts to protect and present Canada's natural treasures, Parks Canada actively pursued the implementation of our Government's Action Plan to Protect Canada's Natural Heritage, paving the way for the creation or completion of national parks and national marine conservation areas before it is too late. Canadians feel a deep passion for setting aside lands for the creation of new national parks, as I discovered when I went to Labrador to sign the agreements that will lead to the establishment of the magnificent Torngat Mountains National Park Reserve of Canada. The room where the agreements were signed was charged with emotion, pride and a sense of tremendous shared achievement. This park was made possible by all stakeholders - Parks Canada, the Labrador Inuit, local communities and others - working together cooperatively. The result will be a place of beauty, wonder and heritage, a legacy that we leave to our children and future generations.

Much remains to be done, however. All across the national parks system, initiatives are under way to enhance and maintain the ecological integrity of our national parks. The new ecological integrity funding Parks Canada received in the 2003 and 2005 budgets is helping the Agency to enhance its understanding of ecological integrity, to improve ecological integrity monitoring and reporting within national parks, and to act accordingly in concert with all our partners and stakeholders, especially through our valuable partnerships with Canada's Aboriginal peoples.

We also acted decisively to protect our cultural, historical and architectural heritage, and expanded our system of national historic sites to make it more representative of all Canadians. One of Parks Canada's core priorities over this period has been to complete the implementation of the Historic Places Initiative. HPI is an outstanding example of collaboration between all governments in Canada - federal, provincial, territorial and municipal. It is being undertaken with the support of heritage community experts and specialists, and may well be the most important initiative to conserve built heritage in the last 50 years.

HPI has already brought positive changes with the launch of the Canadian Register of Historic Places and the Standards and Guidelines for the Conservation of Historic Places in Canada , which sets out methods and techniques to preserve the heritage values of historic buildings during their renovation, rehabilitation or restoration. We have also entered into contribution agreements with building owners under the Commercial Heritage Properties Incentive Fund. This program was established in 2003 to help private Canadian corporations bring their historic buildings back to life and profitability in a way that preserves their historical features. It is a positive beginning.

The need for these types of initiatives was clear. In her 2003 report, Protection of Cultural Resources in the Federal Government , the Auditor General expressed serious concerns about the poor state of the built heritage under federal jurisdiction and the lack of protective legislation.We have made lots of progress since then, especially through the 2005 federal budget. The new funding we provided to Parks Canada to restore national historic sites, repair and replace visitor facilities, and continue the implementation of HPI will ensure that we can build on the work already underway to maintain the commemorative integrity of the cherished historic places we manage on behalf of Canadians. But much work remains to be done.

More broadly, we need to put in place appropriate programs to empower Aboriginal communities to protect and celebrate their unique historic places.We need to examine alternate means of supporting the commercial sector in conserving built heritage, and to explore ways to help not-for-profit groups conserve the historic places which they own and operate.

The situation is urgent: once a piece of our history is lost, it is lost forever. We need to build on our existing successes to ensure that our invaluable built heritage is protected. This is not something that the government can do alone. We need to engage all Canadians in this calling and I look forward to working with all of you as we build a culture of heritage conservation in this country.

The Honourable Stéphane Dion
Minister of the Environment