| Summary: | The planning and management of parks and protected areas has become increasingly complex. Parks can
no longer be managed as islands of wilderness in light of the interconnectedness of the social, economic
and biophysical systems. Many protected areas today are failing to reach their conservation mandate
while the sustainability of others is threatened. Among the predominant threats to national parks are those
associated with surrounding communities. The need to actively involve local communities in protected
areas planning and management, in order to build cooperative relationships between communities and the
park agency, has been recognized since the late 70's. However, the traditional centralized planning
approach has created a challenge for many park agencies to engage iri effective public participation.
This thesis is an evaluation of Parks Canada's approach to public participation. Nine criteria of effective
public participation were selected from the literature for the analytical framework. The evaluation was
carried out in two steps. The first consisted in a detailed evaluation of the public participation approach
used in the Saguenay St. Lawrence Marine Park (SSLMP) establishment process. The second step
consisted in the analysis of the general approach to public participation and in the identification of the
main constraints to effective public participation within Parks Canada. The evaluations were based on a
series of interviews with Parks Canada personnel and other stakeholders involved in the establishment of
national parks.
In the SSLMP evaluation, it was found that most of the criteria were not considered in the development of
a public participation approach. The main forms of public participation practiced consisted of public
information sessions followed by public hearings. These forms of public participation contrasted
significantly with the demand of the local communities for active involvement. The creation of the
Consultation Committee towards the end of the establishment phase provided the communities with an
opportunity for active involvement. The planners interviewed in both evaluations had limited knowledge
of the theory and practice of public participation. The constraints identified by planners to the
consideration of the criteria included time, money, the politics of the establishment process, and various
technical and organizational limitations.
As a result of the evaluation it was concluded that proposing criteria of effective public participation in
order to assist planners in the development of a public participation strategy would not alone suffice to
assure more effective public participation practices. Three areas of intervention were proposed to address
1) the skills development need 2) the development of an integrated planning approach which includes public participation, and 3) the disparity between the policies and the actual practice of public
participation at Parks Canada.
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