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NAVIGATION RIGHTS AT STAKE.
PHOTO: SCOTT MACGREGOR
Fight for Your Right
PADDLERS PROTEST CHANGES TO THE NAVIGABLE WATERS ACT Apparently the NWPA was creating
AS DUSK FELL the horde reached the hilltop citadel. Marchers in helmets and suits of rubber armour demanded that their leaders respect their Magna Carta rights, but there was no sign anyone in- side the stone walls was listening. Wav- ing paddles in the air, they vowed the fight wasn’t over. National Rivers Day took on a combative
edge on June 8 as canoeists and kayakers converged on Parliament Hill in Ottawa for a vigil to protest proposed changes to the Navigable Waters Protection Act (NWPA). Enacted in 1882, the law is one of Can-
ada’s oldest and has its roots in Roman law and the Magna Carta. It entrenches each Canadian’s default right to use wa- terways for transportation or recreation. Presently, anybody wanting to impede navigation on a river needs to pass an environmental assessment before being granted a permit by the government. Te NWPA forms the core of the fight
against a new dam on Quebec’s Kipawa River, currently under appeal in the Su- preme Court. “Tere will be radical and adverse im-
plications for navigation if the current proposals go through,” warned Rodney Northey, an environmental lawyer lead- ing the appeal of the Kipawa case.
headaches for Transport Canada. In February, Transport officials appeared before a House of Commons Commit- tee and complained of a backlog of in- frastructure projects—such as hydro dams—awaiting approval. After hearing from 70 stakeholders
the committee presented their rec- ommendations to Transport in June. Committee Chair Mervin Tweed, a Conservative MP from Manitoba, recommended that the government fundamentally change the law so that waterways are only considered navi- gable—and granted protection—if they are first nominated for designa- tion and then assessed and approved by government. Te chances that coveted canoe riv-
ers would be deemed navigable are slim, since the report also recommends ex- cluding “minor” waters from the act. Finally, the report urged that the new
law delete specific reference to dams, since, according to stakeholders, dams are no longer significant obstacles, a move that Transport assistant deputy minister Marc Gregoire praised as likely to “provide some workload relief” to project applicants and ministry staff.
And what did paddlers tell the com-
mittee? “I do not think there were any pad-
dling organizations included in the [stakeholders],” said committee clerk Maxime Ricard. When paddlers caught wind of the
hearings and demanded a say the com- mittee extended a last-minute invita- tion to Paddle Canada. Paddle Canada refused, protesting that they were given less than 48 hours to respond before the close of the three-month hearings. “Tis could hardly be called public con-
sultation,” complained Peter Karwacki, former president of Whitewater Ontario. Paddlers may yet have their chance,
however. Te report is with the minis- try now, and any changes wouldn’t be in Parliament as a bill until autumn. Paddlers are hopeful that between
now and then they will have their voices heard inside Parliament’s thick walls. As the Sierra Club’s Celeste Côté told
the paddlers at the vigil, “Awareness is never enough. Action is what we need. Write your MPs. Tat’s what they are for.”—Ian Merringer
For more information and to join an “I speak for Canadian rivers” campaign and online petition visit www.
ispeakforcanadianrivers.ca.
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