News Release

McGUINTY GOVERNMENT TO STRENGTHEN PERMANENT PROTECTION OF PROVINCIAL PARKS AND CONSERVATION RESERVES

Proposed Legislation Among Strongest In Canada

TORONTO — The McGuinty government is introducing new legislation that, if passed, would ensure the permanent protection and ecological integrity of Ontario’s provincial parks and conservation reserves, Natural Resources Minister David Ramsay announced today.

“This is the first overhaul of Ontario’s parks legislation in more than 50 years.  We are proposing that ecological integrity be the first priority when planning and managing within parks and conservation reserves,” said Ramsay.  “The proposed legislation would ensure our protected areas stay strong and healthy and can be enjoyed by Ontarians now and in the future.”

If passed by the Legislature, the proposed new Provincial Parks and Conservation Reserves Act would be among the strongest in Canada.  The main proposals in the act include:

• Enhanced accountability – requiring the Minister to publicly report at least every five years on the health of parks and protected areas.  
• Increased protection – prohibiting by law under the new act major industrial uses like mining and forestry in protected areas, which are currently prohibited by policy.
• Streamlined legislation – bringing all parks and conservation reserves under one piece of legislation, and ensuring that key policies around planning, management and public consultation are mandatory by law when developing management direction.  

The government will also begin development of a policy that would address the potential ecological impacts on parks and conservation reserves of activities on Crown lands adjacent to these protected areas.  This policy would continue to support and promote sustainable resource and community development, and would be subject to public consultation following development.

The province drafted the act following extensive consultations last fall with the public, stakeholder groups, Aboriginal organizations and communities, and the Ontario Parks Board of Directors. The proposed legislation is a key initiative in Ontario’s new Biodiversity Strategy and complements other government initiatives such as the Greenbelt Act and Natural Spaces program.

Ontario has a world-class system of protected areas that currently includes 319 provincial parks, 280 conservation reserves and 10 wilderness areas covering more than nine million hectares – larger than the province of Nova Scotia.

For more information about this proposed legislation, visit the Environmental Bill of Rights Registry at www.ene.gov.on.ca/samples/search/ and enter Registry Number AB04E6001, or visit the Ontario Parks website at www.OntarioParks.com.