Navigable Waters Protection Act Archives | Environmental Law Center

Omnibus budgets bills that transformed Canada’s environmental laws visited by the Federal Court

The Federal Court issued its decision in Courtoreille v Governor General in Council 2014 FC 1244 on December 19th. In this case, Chief Steve Courtoreille – on behalf of himself and the Mikisew Cree First Nation – sought relief for the federal government’s failure to...

22 December, 2014 / 0 Comments

Is the federal government protecting Canada’s national heritage? Fall 2013 Report of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development

Earlier this month, the Report of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development (the “Report”) was released. This Report is the first issued since the departure of Scott Vaughn from his role as Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development last year. The Report focuses...

20 November, 2013 / 1 Comment

Federal laws protecting Canadian waters under threat

It has been about a year since the federal government introduced Bills C-38 and C-45 which have weakened Canada’s environmental laws.Among other things, Bill C-38 contained significant changes to the Fisheries Act. Implementation of these changes means that the level of protection for Canadian fisheries...

19 August, 2013 / 1 Comment

Navigable waters may be litigable waters if Bill C-45 passes

As has been widely reported, the second omnibus budget bill has been tabled in Parliament (Bill C-45). Part of the Bill is aimed at amending the Navigable Waters Protection Act (NWPA) to focus its regulatory application on impacts on prescribed navigable waters (listed in a...

19 October, 2012 / 6 Comments

Now you CEAA- it, now you don’t

By Adam Driedzic and Laura Bowman Federal Budget Bill hides major changes in Environmental Assessment Law The federal budget bill tabled on March 29th 2010 includes buried changes to the federal environmental assessment regime. Bill C-9 is sweeping omnibus legislation, coming in at over 900 pages...

09 April, 2010 / 6 Comments

Are Canadian waterways subject to public rights?

By Laura Bowman The Navigable Waters Protection Act (NWPA) has existed since 1882 and is one of the oldest pieces of legislation in Canada. Public common law rights to navigate water bodies have existed for over a thousand years, and have been adopted into Canadian common...

10 December, 2009 / 10 Comments

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