Section 13 of the act. We're asking to add to the opening provision a subsection 13(0.1) with the wording:
The purpose of this section is to prevent the risk of environmental harm resulting from bulk removal.
The rest of the wording would remain the same. As I mentioned in my opening remarks, the purpose of the entire legislation, and the reason it's being dealt with here and it's not a matter of trade law, is it's about environmental protection in the international realm. This is why the bill is before the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development.
The purpose of this bill is to ensure that very large amounts of water are not removed to the extent that they would cause environmental harm. In our view, that would make it less likely for this legislation. If someone were to be charged with failing to comply with this act and was facing a criminal or quasi-criminal penalty under the act, in our view, putting this language into the bill would make it more impervious to that kind of a challenge. Therefore, those enforcement mechanisms would stand, and the bill would have some real teeth.