In 2009 the amendments were primarily around the works that were coming forward and how they should be treated, looking very much to streamline the process. Many of the concerns came from the provinces and territories, which were maintaining and building infrastructure and experiencing two- to three-year delays in the approvals under the legislation. Those are some of the origins of the concerns around which works and how they were treated. So a standardized approach to minor works was developed that could treat them as a class; and as long as they complied with basic safety requirements, they could move forward.
The changes in 2012, which were implemented in 2014, were more around the waterways, around which waterways should be protected and which should be subject to different protections—for example, scheduled waters, protected works. It granted approvals, it maintained those streamlined processes, but it also gave greater focus.
There were other provisions of the act. There are essentially three parts. One is to deal with works and protecting safety through regulating those works. The second is obstructions, dealing with obstructions that pose safety to the public, and dealing quickly with them. The third is a series of prohibitions of harmful activities, and those apply in all waters, actually. So there was really a sense in the amendments in 2014 of how to refine and focus efforts on those waterways and situations that most required it. There were various groups that came forward. We receive, primarily, applications from private industry and the public, and about a third is from provinces, if that gives a bit of a breakdown.
