Tumpline


What’s really behind this protest?


PHOTO: SCOTT MACGREGOR


The Authentic Canadian Experience —


A CEDAR and CANVAS CANOE


[ CoNservatioN ]


Battle Lost A


1-866-910-1551 www.nominingue.com PADDLERS LOSE RIGHTS BUT FIND A VOICE


legislative end-run by the Conservative government has stripped effective protection from minor rivers and long-standing rights


from paddlers. Te question is, has the government awakened a sleeping giant? In 2008, Ontario canoeist Jeff McColl discovered that a govern-


ment committee was consulting stakeholders on ways to amend the Navigable Waters Protection Act (NWPA). Te 126-year-old law gave Canadians the right to navigate waterways of any size and said that any development that would affect the navigability or environmental health of a waterway needed to pass an approval process. Te problem was, nobody had invited the paddlers, or the environmen-


talists, or the fishers, or the First Nations. Of the dozens of stakehold- ers to appear before the committee, only Lake Ontario Waterkeeper had anything other than pouring concrete in mind (Canoeroots, Fall 2008). Tings heated up when the committee recommended that Trans-


port Canada water down the act and give the minister the ability to further dilute the act without consulting Canadians (for a recap of the new law visit Ispeakforcanadianrivers.ca). A core of paddlers from Friends of the Kipawa River, including Doug Skeggs and Jim Coffey teamed up with Rapid Media publisher Scott MacGregor to start the I Speak for Canadian Rivers campaign. Coffey estimates that by reaching out to major environmental, First


Nations, conservation and fishing groups across the country the new- ly formed Canadian Rivers Network was able to reach more than one million Canadians—more than 10,000 of whom wrote to politicians. Liberal Senator Joseph Day claims he has received more emails about the NWPA than any other issue as a senator. Paddlers were told there would be proper consultations before the


proposals became law, but the Conservatives short-circuited the pro- cess by including the changes in the omnibus Budget Implementation Act. If the opposition parties had voted down the NWPA changes they would have forced a federal election. Te Senate did hold hearings on the changes, but after the bill had


become law. Cross-Canada canoeist Jay Morrison appeared at the hearings as a witness and believes the Senate report addresses the concerns of paddlers, even if the language used is “mild.” What will come of the report is uncertain. It could result in a Senate


bill or a private members bill in Parliament, but more likely the issue will have to wait until an election. Opposition leader Michael Ignatieff has promised to review the new law if elected. Meanwhile, the activists are intending to stay active. “Tis issue never got its day, and no one is happy with the result,”


says Coffey. “But through this we developed a network of a million Canadians ready to mobilize to protect our rivers and our rights to enjoy them.” » IAN MERRINGER


www.canoerootsmag.com 17 Building and repairing canoes for over 35 years


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