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The Harper Conservative government has included drastic and harmful amendments to the Navigable Waters Protection Act (NWPA), in Part 7 of the Budget Implementation Act, Bill C-10. Because the Budget is seen as important, it is being pushed through the process.
The NWPA establishes that, if someone wants to build something in,
on, around, under, over, or through a navigable waterway, such projects
are subject to an assessment of the impacts on navigation (ability to
canoe, kayak, go rafting, etc) and an environmental assessment before
they can be approved. That is reasonable request but the Harper
government wants to change the Act and have all of the discretion in
the hands of the Minister instead of having it a public process. These
amendments to the NWPA jeopardize both public access to and
environmental health of Canadian waterways. Any suggestions of changes
to the NWPA should go througha broad consultative process and be
reviewed by all those interested, not be tagged on to another bill. As
this bill is now in the Senate, there is an urgent push by the Sierra
Club and others to have Canadians tell the Senate to strip the bill of
this Part 7 such that it will not go further than it was intended, that
being a budget for the government of Canada. For more on this issue
and to find out more information, you can check out the websites, www.ispeakforrivers.ca or http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5654/t/3791/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=1092
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