Introducing Bill 239 - The Ecological Reserves Amendment Act (Ecological Corridors)

 On Thursday May 29, I introduced Bill 239 - to provide for a framework for the stewardship of Ecological Corridors in Manitoba. 

 

Bill 239–The Ecological Reserves Amendment Act
(Ecological Corridors)

Hon. Jon Gerrard (River Heights): Madam Speaker, I move, seconded by the MLA for Tyndall Park, that Bill 239, The Ecological Reserves Amendment Act (Ecological Corridors); Loi modifiant la Loi sur les réserves écologiques (corridors écologiques), be now read a first time.

Motion presented.

Mr. Gerrard: Madam Speaker, Bill 239 recognizes that we need to act now to help save our planet.

      The bill recognizes that there needs to be a fun­da­mental shift in how we think of 'ecologigical' steward­ship. We need to move beyond protecting islands of habitat toward protecting ecological corridors, and we need to move beyond the view that gov­ern­ments can act alone and toward the view that private sector landowners, Indigenous people and gov­ern­ments need to work together to provide effective stewardship of wildlife corridors.

      Thank you.

Madam Speaker: Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion? Agreed? [Agreed]

On Tuesday May 24th, I spoke on a Member's Statement to provide more details about Bill 239. My comments are below. 

Little Saskatchewan River Wildlife Corridor

Hon. Jon Gerrard (River Heights): Madam Speaker, I speak today of the need for formal recognition and a stewardship plan for the Little Saskatchewan River wildlife or ecological corridor which runs from Lake Audy in Riding Mountain National Park to the Assiniboine River.

      Last year, after conversations with local residents, Sheva Schwartz, a summer student in my office, pro­duced the first draft of a report which has looked at the potential and need for formal recognition of a wild­life or ecological corridor here. It is a unique and important corridor for wildlife.

      The report, which is available on my MLA web­site, provided the background on such an eco­logical corridor and provided the basis for Bill 239, The Ecological Reserves Amendment Act (Ecological Corridors), which was presented last week.

      The recognition of ecological corridors along rivers is emerging as important for preserving bio­diver­sity and for addressing climate change. The cor­ridor along the Little Saskatchewan River is parti­cular­­ly important for the migration of birds as well as for movements of animals and other species. Our report and Bill 239 is an effort to begin a conversation on ecological corridors in Manitoba.

      We need a fundamental shift from preserving islands of habitats to preserving corridors, as corridors are much more sustainable. In order to preserve cor­ridors, which include a lot of privately owned land, we need a new approach which will look at private land­owners and Indigenous people as partners with gov­ern­ments in stewardship and in decision making.

      Jocelyn Beever, from Rivers, and I have already met with the councils of Riverdale, Yellowhead and Harrison Park to discuss our report and update it. The federal gov­ern­ment has also recog­nized the import­ance of ecological corridors, and we look forward for further discussions and further steps with others as this idea moves forward.

      Thank you.