Questions remain over Mealy Mountain National Park

The announcement of the Mealy Mountain National Park has garnered mixed reactions from Labradorians involved with the project.

Environment Minister Jim Prentice announced on Feb. 5 Ottawa's commitment to establish the new national park reserve protecting an area roughly 10,700 square kilometres, making it the largest national park in eastern Canada.

Environment and Conservation Minister Charlene Johnson also announced the provincial government's intent to establish a waterway provincial park to protect the adjacent Eagle River, an area of some 2,700 square kilometres.

But Cartwright Mayor Rosetta Holwell said the announcements came "out of the blue" after some two years without consultations.

"Silence was certainly not golden in our case because we knew nothing, but I'm pleased at least something is started," she said, adding that the proposed 21,000 square kilometre study area was cut in half.

"This is a different proposal really, it doesn't include all the Mealy Mountains and we know very little about it. There's a lot more work to be done obviously."

Both levels of government accepted recommendations made by the steering committee for the National Park Feasibility Study, and signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) outlining the next steps for the two governments, including the negotiation of a federal-provincial land transfer agreement.

The proposed park features the Wonderstrands, the long beaches described in Viking sagas, summits that reach 1,000 metres and salmon rivers.

The park will also protect boreal ecosystems and threatened populations of caribou, harlequin ducks and other bird species from development.

Steering committee member Judy Pardy of Cartwright said there has been some misunderstanding regarding the initial 21,000 square kilometre proposal.

"That was only the study area, and we knew from day one it wasn't going to encompass all that amount, it was just the area we were looking at," Ms. Pardy said.

The steering committee, which included Innu, Inuit and MÉtis people, put forth key stipulations before coming on board.

One was the continuation of traditional land use activities by Labradorians - wood cutting, hunting, trapping and fishing. Another was that the provincial government couldn't make any changes to the waterway provincial park through cabinet without consultations with local people.

"The entire South Coast and Northern Peninsula, we're going to benefit tremendously from this," Ms. Pardy said. "You're talking about literally thousands of people that are going to come because it's a national park."

Labrador MP Todd Russell cited the traditional land use stipulation as mandatory in moving forward.

"That was a deal breaker for many people," said Mr. Russell, who was on the original steering committee in 2002-2004 as president of the Labrador MÉtis Nation. "If that couldn't happen, I doubt that there would have been an announcement on the park. That need precipitated the change in Parks Canada policy. It wasn't easy. But I tell you, it's a tremendous boost to this particular park."

Consultations with Aboriginal groups will continue, and both federal and provincial governments have further agreements to reach, according to the MoU posted on Mr. Russell's website.

According to the document, the land transfer agreement will address:

Finalization of the boundary for the proposed national park reserve;

Timing and process for the transfer of lands to Canada for the purpose of establishing and operating a national park reserve under the Canada National Parks Act;

Management of said lands between the date of the agreement and the date they are listed under Schedule 2 of the Canada National Parks Act;

Terms and conditions for dealing with third-party interests, as required;

Federal investment in the establishment, development and operation of a national park reserve in the Mealy Mountains;

Framework and principles guiding the continuation of traditional activities by Labradorians within the national park reserve; and

Any other items to which the two parties may agree.

Mr. Russell called the MoU very broad, and said a concrete deadline of one to three years, for instance, would seem reasonable.

"Those questions aside, I think people are saying that we have something to work with, it is substantial, and we want to be able to make sure that, when we move down from this announcement to an actual Mealy Mountain Park Reserve and then eventually a Mealy Mountain Park, it is designed and put together in a way that benefits them to the maxim amount possible," Mr. Russell said.

Ms. Holwell is calling for more consultations, adding that past consultations were complete successes.

"There seems to be nothing in the way of concrete decisions and I'm hoping that that will lead the way for more consultation and dialogue."