The American system is completely different from the Canadian system when it comes to environmental protection. They have the Clean Water Act, which actually encourages citizen involvement. And it encourages big lawsuits, which to Canadians sounds extremely litigious and very confrontational, but for the most part it is a paperwork process similar to what we do with our licensing certificates of approval under provincial laws.
The difference is that there's an expectation built into American environmental law that communities will be involved in the decision-making process. In Canada we tend to be labelled NIMBYs fairly quickly or to be accused of some ulterior or special interest motivation, when really we're just trying to arrive at the best decisions possible. So citizens are definitely encouraged to participate in the American system much more than they are encouraged to participate in the Canadian system.
That being said, in the Canadian system, the Fisheries Act is a quasi-criminal statute. If you're in violation of the Fisheries Act, you can be prosecuted in the criminal court. Inherent in the Canadian law is the understanding that to infringe upon the public's environmental rights is extremely serious and a threat against the public interest, as opposed to the American system, which is much more based on the tort system and damages and issues between private parties.