The previous legislation was put in place with consultation with provinces and territories, particularly on the waterways: which waterways it would make sense to include and which waterways it would make sense to leave outside of the schedule. There were some technical briefings to inform of the approach of moving to a risk-based framework, but there was not a deep discussion with indigenous people on which waterways and what concerns were raised in terms of protection under the act. There was less conversation about the recreational, non-commercial users of the waterways.
There were some areas in which there wasn't a full airing of views in the protections afforded under the act, and this committee provides an opportunity to broaden that discussion and allow those users—particularly the recreational users, indigenous communities, and some of the smaller commercial users—to come forward with their views.