Parks Canada / Parcs Canada

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CanadaCanada Parks Canada (English)
Parcs Canada (French)
- PC / PC -
State level Federal level
legal form Crown Agency
Supervisory authority (s) Government of Canada
Consist 1911
Headquarters Ottawa
Chief Executive Officer Ron Hallman
Employee 4,356 (as of March 31, 2019)
Website www.pc.gc.ca

Parks Canada (English name) or because of the government Canadian bilingualism equally well Parcs Canada (French name), is a Canadian NGO ( Crown Agency ) based in Ottawa , is the task of the protection and presentation of national bedeutsamem Cultural Heritage and Natural Heritage. It should promote their understanding and appreciation in the public in an environmentally friendly way and with a view to their integrity and completeness.

In the United States , the National Park Service performs similar tasks.

history

The first parks in Canada were established in the late 19th century. But when in 1885 the Banff National Park (which at that time Rocky Mountain National Park was established was called), is closed there for centuries hunter-gatherer Stoney out from use. An investigation from 1895 suggested their permanent exclusion from any use. This policy continued until after World War II . At the beginning of the 20th century, another seven parks were established. Until 1922, there was no national park in northern Canada. It was not until this year that the Wood Buffalo National Park became the first national park in the north. In 1924, the park was expanded to the south and thus included large parts of the traditionally used areas to which the indigenous peoples were entitled by contract. For the first time the Indians living there were admitted that they had older rights there. A quota system was therefore introduced in order to find a balance between their interests in conservation and those of the conservationists according to the knowledge of the time. The institution that issued the licenses in accordance with the permitted upper limits was the first authority to seek a balance of interests.

Parks Canada was founded in 1911 as the Dominion Parks Branch under the Home Office and was the world's first national park administration. The name was later changed to National Parks Branch and Canadian Parks Service before the current name was introduced. Parks Canada's remit is governed by the Canada National Parks Act , which was passed in 1930 and amended in 2000. When Riding Mountain National Park was established in 1930, the year the Canadian National Park Act was passed, armed police forces evicted the local Ojibway , now called Keeseekoowenin First Nation , in order to be able to add their areas to the park.

In 2010 this policy changed fundamentally. Parks Canada maintained direct contact with 130 indigenous groups. Accordingly, cooperation agreements had been signed by then for 68% of the areas supervised by the park administration. Since 1973 (Calder v. British Columbia) the Supreme Court had ruled that the more than 70 treaties between Great Britain and Canada with indigenous peoples were in full force. As a result, there were judgments such as the Mikisew Cree decision of 2005. The policy of Parks Canada fundamentally changed with two agreements in Nunavut , the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement of 1993 and the Inuvialuit Final Agreement of 1984. For the first time, the local groups were in involved in management and planning. This was based on the procedural changes that Parks Canada had decided in 1979, in which joint management strategies were provided. In 1994 the park administration agreed that traditional use could continue in some parks. In the same year, areas that were supposed to be given national park status, but where negotiations with the indigenous peoples had not yet been concluded, were given reserve status . With an amendment to the Park Act from 2002, “development” by third parties, i.e. commercial use, was prohibited during the negotiations. In addition to hunting and trapping, collecting and logging rights, the spiritual and ceremonial uses and their exploration came to the fore. By 2013, Parks Canada wanted to set up advisory groups everywhere to implement the indigenous peoples' suggestions that have been developed on the basis of their rights and culture. Until a few years ago, the indigenous people were only involved when the management plans were completed, but now this has already happened when the inventory was taken and when the plan was drawn up.

In order to implement these changes organizationally, Parks Canada founded the Aboriginal Affairs Secretariat in 1999 . The leader of this unit, who develops the principles, frameworks, strategies, and tools to carry out their work, reports directly to Parks Canada management. In addition, the Aboriginal Consultative Committee was established , which meets three times a year. It was established in 2000 and consists of 12 members appointed by the Head of Parks Canada. Your job is to have an open discussion with the leaders of the indigenous groups that are affected in the vicinity of the Parks Canada activities.

In 2010, 8.3% of Parks Canada employees were Indigenous. In order to define ways and goals here, the Aboriginal Leadership Development Program was created , which prepares indigenous people for leadership positions. The organizational integration of the traditional knowledge of the indigenous peoples caused considerable problems. These complex systems are indispensable for the transfer of knowledge and techniques, but also often for great value for the interpretation of natural and cultural objects and processes. The Inuit Knowledge Project (Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit) takes care of the integration of local knowledge in research and presentation, in conservation and communication in three national parks in Nunavut. In remote areas in particular, where Parks Canada cannot effectively supervise, the elders of the Inuit , Métis and Indians are not only of great cultural but also ecological value. In 2010 there were 18 cooperation agreements throughout Canada, 12 formal cooperation structures, plus numerous less formalized cooperations. However, the results of these collaborations are exclusively of an advisory nature and are therefore dependent on the decision of the government bodies and parliaments. Nevertheless, the effectiveness is high, as the consequences of the Canada – Haida Agreement of 1993 showed. It laid the foundation for the Archipelago Management Board , which in turn laid the foundations for working with the Haida in creating the Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site . In January 2010 there were contracts for the establishment of a marine reserve around Haida Gwaii , which takes into account all traditional requirements and at the same time serves nature conservation.

Parks Canada has been pursuing the task of establishing a national park for each of the 39 terrestrial and 29 marine natural regions since 1991 and 2004 respectively. In 1999 this had already been achieved for 27 terrestrial and 2 marine areas. In 2008 this should be 34 and 8 respectively.

As the number of visitors has risen sharply, Parks Canada tries to influence the behavior of visitors through training and education in such a way that the commercially valuable rush does not lead to ecological and social destruction. Parks Canada often found itself equipped with a budget that had barely increased, with which a large number of tasks were to be solved. The large number of facilities for tourism alone, which were often built between the 1950s and 1970s, was almost impossible to maintain, let alone replace it with more modern and ecologically sensible facilities. This affected the disposal of faeces and civilization waste as well as the independent energy supply. In 2006 there was at least a budget increase of $ 315 million. In the following years, the authority faced further budget cuts. At the same time, the number of visitors is increasing. After the number of employees had reached a low point of only 2,923 employees in 2013, this number rose continuously again to reach a new high of 4,356 employees in 2019.

According to an internal report from 2013, more than half of the buildings and other structures in the parks were in poor or very poor condition. As many as 61% of the culturally significant institutions were in poor or very poor condition. Park Canada is thus neglecting its central tasks.

organization

Parks Canada is now subordinate to Environment and Climate Change Canada, Canada . From 1966 to 1978 the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development was responsible for the agency, from 1979 to 1994 the Department of Environment and then until 2003 the Department of Canadian Heritage . In the course of the changing responsibilities, the focus of the tasks of Parks Canada shifted from the construction and expansion to the preservation and protection of the cultural and natural heritage.

The Parks Canada Agency has been led by Ron Hallman as CEO since 2019, who succeeds Daniel Watson in this role.

Parks

In 2020, Parks Canada managed:

  • 38 National Park of Canada;
  • 10 National Park Reserve of Canada (including Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site);
  • 3 National Marine Park of Canada or National Marine Conservation Area Reserve;
  • 171 National Historic Sites ;
  • 2 historical sites that have a special status (objects of national importance)

See also

literature

  • Paul Kopas: Taking the Air: Ideas and Change in Canada's National Parks . Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press 2007.
  • National Geographic. Guide to the National Parks of Canada , National Geographic Society, 2011.
  • M. Manseau, L. Dick, N. Lyons: People, Caribou, and Muskoxen on Northern Ellesmere Island: Historical Interactions and Population Ecology, ca.4,300 BP to Present , Ottawa: Parks Canada 2005.
  • Steve Langdon, Rob Prosper, Nathalie Gagnon: Two Paths One Direction: Parks Canada and Aboriginal Peoples Working Together , in: The George Wright Forum, 27.2 (2010) 222-233.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Population of the Federal Public Service by Department. Government of Canada - Department of Treasury, July 30, 2019, accessed June 6, 2020 .
  2. ^ Canada National Parks Act. (PDF (646KB)) Department of Justice, accessed November 27, 2012 .
  3. ↑ John J. Pigram, John Michael Jenkins: Outdoor recreation management , 1999, 3rd ed. 2006, p. 254.
  4. ↑ John J. Pigram, John Michael Jenkins: Outdoor recreation management , 1999, 3rd ed. 2006, p. 258.
  5. ↑ a b The Guardian: Internal report says Parks Canada buildings in worse shape than claimed , February 22, 2014
  6. ↑ Hildebrandt, Walter: Historical Analysis of Parks Canada and Banff National Park, 1968-1995 . Banff-Bow Valley Study, 1995.
  7. ^ Message from the new President & Chief Executive Officer. Parks Canada, October 25, 2019, accessed June 6, 2020 .
  8. ↑ Find a Parks Canada location. Parks Canada, accessed on June 6, 2020 (English, select the respective park type using the search mask).