Environment committee  Thank you very much. Of course I don't represent the University of Calgary either. These are my own points of view. My presentation will concern two areas. I will speak on the importance of an effective legislated enforcement mechanism for the water management framework, instr

Environment committee  It's really quite complex, because our water law was developed in the 1800s and we realize we cannot really protect the Athabasca River with that law the way it is. That is why this framework was entered into. It is designed to protect the instream flows where our water law does

Environment committee  Yes. Under the new water act that came into effect in 1999, licences have a term of ten years. However, they are automatically renewable, provided that the licence holder has complied with the conditions. So they can be, in effect, in perpetuity. Even though they are renewable, t

Environment committee  There should be riparian rights, as you started to say. They presumably would not be modified by provincial legislation, although the province has taken the point of view that there are no water rights with respect to the numbered treaties or reserves, outside of the ones that ar

Environment committee  I would say there is. In fact, DFO has taken the position that water withdrawal can be a HADD. If you take enough water out of a watercourse that you disturb fish habitat, that is a HADD and a violation of the Fisheries Act, unless it's authorized under the act.

Environment committee  Yes. In the United States the wetlands are governed by the Army Corps of Engineers. It's their job to protect wetlands. Generally in the United States there's more federal jurisdiction over water. Even though water quantity is state, water quality is generally federal. I thin

Environment committee  Yes, but with SARA it would be very limited to species at risk. Certainly recovery plans under SARA would be one way to protect the wetlands.

Environment committee  The framework is completely voluntary for everyone. Of course, that worries me greatly, because the provincial government is hanging, and so is the federal government hanging, so much on it. Those in-stream flows are only going to be protected if this voluntary arrangement stays

Environment committee  I don't think it should be, because the Department of Fisheries and Oceans recently issued a policy stating that the HADD provisions do apply to pre-1977 structures and frameworks. By extension, then, they should apply to pre-1977 water licences as well.

Environment committee  It would be an amendment to the framework, in the phase two.

Environment committee  No. Under the Alberta Water Act, there is no right of the government to expropriate a licence. What they could do is declare an emergency, if there truly was an emergency. But that's a rather radical power, and the courts will not allow that kind of power, or at least not allow i

Environment committee  Thank you. First I wish to thank you for the invitation to address this committee. I am happy and honoured to be here. What happens to the CEAA as a result of this committee's deliberations will strongly influence the kind of federation we in fact have in Canada and the kind

Environment committee  Thank you very much. There's one thing I'd like to thank my colleagues at the table for, and that is for the most part, I think, properly using the terms “overlap” and “duplication”. Overlap is something that our constitution has. It's just the way it is. Duplication is somethi

Environment committee  Yes, absolutely.

Environment committee  So you're asking about facilitating more coordination.