Prior to 1992, many crown-built facilities were not approved under the Navigable Waters Protection Act. Up to that point the NWPA did not apply to crown-constructed works because the crown looked after itself and all interests of those under it. In 1992, with the Oldman River Dam decision, the Supreme Court indicated that was not so.
My suggestion is that because of the age of that work and the supposition that it was probably built with provincial financial interests, it probably was not approved. At this point in time, because the dam has been constructed.... Once you construct a dam you create a new standard of navigation, the standard of navigation being the lake up top and maybe a trickle down below. That is the new standard of navigation that we protect. While the individual may have concerns with respect to the trickle of water down below, that's the standard of navigation we protect for them.