Mr. Speaker, by stripping the Navigable Waters Act, the Conservatives will promote industrial development on our lakes and rivers but without any environmental assessments whatsoever. While the minister believes such safeguards are ”red tape”, hunters, anglers and boaters see them as critical in protecting our great outdoors from pollution and dangerous development.
Conservationists and recreation users across Canada are furious, and rightly so. Why does the minister feel that he can be judge, jury and executioner for Canada's waterways? Why is he fast-tracking the destruction of Canada's great outdoors?