Unfortunately we have just entered a very discouraging time for river advocacy in Canada. Just as you would think that we should be doing everything we can bolster the protection of our rivers for future generations…. our government has just decided the opposite.
One of the first laws enacted in Canada was the Navigable Waters Protection Act. Its purpose was to place our waterways within the “public trust” to be managed for the overall benefit of ALL Canadians. Essentially it required a federal environmental assessment for projects that would interfere with navigation…. specifically the building of bridges, dams, booms and causeways…Under the disguise of an economic stimulus package the government has lumped the dismantling of the NWPA into the new economic omnibus bill. The rationale is that going through the environmental assessment process is too lengthy and cumbersome and impedes development and infrastructure enhancements. So…instead of making the environmental assessment more fluid or efficient they have decided that it is in “the publics best interest” to just do away from environmental assessment all together. this means that development projects on our lakes and rivers will be “at the discretion of the minister” rather than based on environmental assessment and impact. This is a huge blow to the environmental movement in Canada. No longer will science, assessment and the good of the environment be weighed into development on our lakes and rivers. On the contrary development will have an easy route to alter our waterways which in fact alters our historic right to navigation.
Unfortunately, as the changes to the NWPA are connected to the budget bill our opposition is reluctant to act as they feel the country does not want to be plunged into an election. We are currently acting as quickly and diligently as possible to push for a “de-coupling” of the NWPA from the “economic stimulus” package.
I will keep you updated with our upcoming “Call to Action”…. Stay tuned!
jim
