Access to Canadian rivers and lakes may seem like an obvious right for all Canadians.

But not so according to Ecojustice Canada, the largest legal environment advocacy group in the country.

Their concern dates back to unexpected changes that former prime minister Stephen Harper91裸聊视频檚 government introduced in 2012 to Canada91裸聊视频檚 century-old Navigable Waters Protection Act, including renaming it the Navigation Protection Act.

In an omnibus piece of legislation, Harper91裸聊视频檚 altered legislation ended the federal government91裸聊视频檚 requirement to carry out environmental assessment studies on lake, water or river use permit applications, and reduced the responsibility of government mandated protection to just some 20 waterways across Canada.

91裸聊视频淚t was a huge loss in environment protection of our waterways and totally arbitrary at the time. There was no consultation leading up to that decision by the Harper government,91裸聊视频� said Joshua Ginsberg, a lawyer with Ecojustive in Ottawa.

91裸聊视频淚t shifted the burden of protection of our waterways from government to the public. If someone91裸聊视频檚 right to navigation or use of a lake or river was being obstructed, they would have to sue in court.

91裸聊视频淪o it was still considered unlawful but now it was up to private citizens, if they could afford it, to enforce those regulations that the federal government had previously been responsible for upholding.91裸聊视频�

In the last federal election campaign, Liberal leader Justin Trudeau promised to restore those lost waterway protection measures.

Since being elected, however, the Trudeau regime has gone through a public consultation process that has led to the expected introduction of amended legislation this fall that falls short of what Ginsberg was hoping to see.

91裸聊视频淭hey seem to be doubling down on the scheduling aspect, including now about 100 lakes and 64 rivers across Canada that fall under federal government protection, and vague promises to improve access to protect other navigable waters,91裸聊视频� Ginsberg said.

91裸聊视频淲hat we had hoped is we would return to the legislation that had been well-established before Harper amended it, but the Liberals have opted not to go that far at this point.91裸聊视频�

Ginsberg says he can91裸聊视频檛 understand why that is the case, other than industry advocates are pushing to maintain reduced regulation by Ottawa.

Included under the expanded protective schedule would be Okanagan Lake, Kamloops Lake, Shuswap Lake, Little Shuswap Lake, Mara Lake, and Lake Revelstoke.

The lake protection extends to the mouths of all connecting waterways to those lakes.

Local rivers granted protection include the Thompson River, from the South Thompson River to the Fraser River, and the South Thompson River, from Little Shuswap Lake to the Thompson River.

Ginsberg says once tabled in Parliament this fall, the legislation will be referred to committee for further debate prior to final adoption.

91裸聊视频淲e are waiting at this point to see what will be in it, whether there may still be a change of heart from the government regarding navigable waterway enforcement, and if not there will be one more opportunity to influence those changes during the committee hearings,91裸聊视频� Ginsberg said.

91裸聊视频淥ur waterways, all of them, are the lifeblood of our country. For more than a century there has been effective protective legislation in place and (the Harper government) took that away in one fell swoop. 91裸聊视频淭rudeau91裸聊视频檚 government has a chance to set that right, and we still hope it chooses to do so.91裸聊视频�

A letter writing campaign this spring had the support of many area residents, including Sharon Bell of West Kelowna.

91裸聊视频淲e just want to show that many of us still care about protection of our navigational waterways from untethered development,91裸聊视频� Bell said.

barry.gerding@blackpress.ca
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