Thank you very much, Ms. Tully, for joining us today.
I would not want anyone to misunderstand me. At no time was it ever the committee's intention to place responsibility for waterways in the hands of the private sector.
I've listened to your comments and read your brief. One of the problems is that the act has not been amended and the courts have pounced on that. What was deemed to be navigable at the time the legislation was first enacted...Now, this designation applies to all waterways, whether minor, medium or large. The waterway that you are defending will probably always be governed by this act. We are now focusing on the smallest streams and perhaps it is because we want to counter the effects of the courts that we are saying today that it is time to review the very definition of what constitutes a navigable waterway or zone.
Representatives of the Alberta government, who also happened to be representing several other provinces, made a presentation to the committee. This province is prepared to draw up a list of waterways that will remain navigable. We need to understand that if we do not address this matter... As you stated in your submission, Environment Canada maintains certain standards. When the federal government provides funding, an environmental assessment is done, and that satisfies our requirements. The use of the Navigable Waters Protection Act has been challenged in court , which has resulted in the act being applied unevenly. We are not calling into question the Fisheries and Oceans Act. We want it to continue to apply, just like the Canadian Environmental Protection Act.
Even municipalities benefit from certain safeguards and we want that to continue. All we want is for the definition of “navigable” contained in the Navigable Waters Protection Act to be more in line with the aim of the legislation when first enacted, more so than the interpretation of the courts.
I sense that you are concerned, but I hope that we can alleviate your concerns somewhat today. If your waterway is navigable, then there shouldn't be a problem. I'm not familiar with the situation and I see that my colleague Mr. Murphy knows considerably more about this than I do. However, if pleasure craft navigate on your waterway, then there won't be any problem. The waterway will be protected by the act.