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When the Oceans Act was passed in 1997, the Minister of Fisheries and
Oceans Canada (DFO) was charged with leading an integrated approach for oceans management
and marine protection on behalf of the federal government. DFO’s approach was outlined
in 2002 in Canada’s Ocean Strategy.
More recently, DFO worked with its federal partners to develop a two-year Oceans
Action Plan that concluded in the spring of 2007.
The Government of Canada is now announcing new funding for a five-year plan to
advance the health of Canada’s three oceans. This money will be in addition to the
funding that was identified in Budget 2007 as part of the National Water Strategy.
Along with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Transport Canada, Indian and Northern
Affairs Canada, Environment Canada, and the Parks Canada Agency will all receive
a portion of this new money.
Under the Health of the Oceans component of the National Water Strategy, Canada’s
New Government committed to a number of valuable initiatives along all three of
Canada’s coasts. These include increasing the scientific and consultative work being
carried out to advance a network of marine protected areas, enhancing our pollution
prevention and response measures through improved surveillance, enforcement and
containment, and providing collaborative opportunities with our partners on ocean
and trans-boundary water matters.
With the additional $42.5 million, our government will advance many initiatives
now under way, and also fund the creation of new projects to ensure the long-term
sustainable health of our oceans. This brings the total funding for the Health of
the Oceans to $61.5 million over five years.
During the next five years, progress will be made by the Government of Canada
on 22 initiatives focused on protecting and conserving Canada’s oceans.
In particular, Canada’s New Government recognizes the increasing importance of
understanding and exploring the Arctic Ocean as a key to asserting Canada’s sovereignty
in the North. This initiative will allow us to advance our protection and conservation
activities in Arctic waters, which will help us fulfill our overall objectives in
the North, articulated by the Prime Minister this summer as: sovereignty, mineral
and resources development, environmental protection and Northern governance.
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