Trudeau carrying on Harper’s environmental legacy

The federal standing committee on transport, infrastructure and communities recently released its long-awaited recommendations on whether Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government should put protections back on 99 per cent of lakes and rivers in Canada.

Released the day after World Water Day, the recommendations allow the federal government to abandon its responsibilities to protect the 31,000 lakes and 2.25 million rivers in Canada and communities’ rights to navigate these waterways.

The first recommendation advises the Trudeau government to keep protections off 99 per cent of lakes and rivers in Canada and indigenous communities. The standing committee report recommends that the process of adding waterways to the list of protected waterways be “rapidly improved,” putting the onus on the public, First Nations or stakeholders to make the case for protecting local waterways.

The standing committee — dominated by Trudeau’s Liberal members of Parliament — gave up its opportunity to distinguish itself from the former Harper government. At the nudging of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, the Harper government stripped protections from all but three oceans, 97 lakes and 62 rivers under the Navigation Protection Act, formerly the Navigable Waters Protection Act, in 2012. The 2012 changes also exempted large pipelines and powerlines from scrutiny under the act, recently giving the Trudeau government ammunition to approve oilsands pipelines such as Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain and Enbridge’s Line 3.

The standing committee recommends that Transport Canada be included in the decision-making on environmental assessments for pipelines and power lines that cross navigable waters. However, it is unclear whether the assessments will include only the meagre list of waterways created by the former Harper government or all lakes and rivers at risk from a pipeline or powerline project.

The NPA, along with the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act and the Fisheries Act, is at risk of being further undermined by U.S. President Donald Trump’s deregulation agenda, which includes slashing water protections and major cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency. The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers has recently argued regulations cause competitiveness “imbalances,” adding pressure to Trudeau’s government to keep protections low.

Many indigenous nations and groups made submissions to the standing committee, pointing out that the NPA violates indigenous treaty and water rights without free, prior and informed consent. The recommendations call for consultations, but in some cases require project proponents such as oil companies rather than the federal government to consult with First Nations. And they stop short of implementing the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Trudeau government’s obligation to obtain free, prior and informed consent.

The recommendations continue to put lakes and rivers — used for transportation, recreation, fishing and more — at risk from pipeline, mega-dam, fishfarm and mining projects. Navigation is inextricably tied to the environment. What’s at stake is our obligation to pass on healthy waters and healthy ecosystems to our future generations.

If it wasn’t clear already, the Trudeau government is so far continuing in the footsteps of the Harper government by basing our economy and society on a fossilfuel and extractivist agenda. But people are hungry for change. Many in Canada voted for the Trudeau government because at the time he represented our chance for “real change.”

With Trump’s deregulation agenda towering over us, it’s vital that the Trudeau government keep its election promises by restoring and enhancing water protection in this country. In the coming weeks, the government will officially respond to the standing committee recommendations.

What we do now matters. We must come together to keep the pressure on the Trudeau government so that it reverses Stephen Harper’s legacy on water and the environment. It’s up to us to help humanity get on track to a cleaner, healthier future.

If we do it right, water will be nature’s gift to teach us how to live more lightly on the Earth, in peace and respect with one another. David Suzuki is an award-winning scientist and broadcaster and host of CBC TV’s long-running series, The Nature of Things. Maude Barlow is the national chairperson of the Council of Canadians and author of the bestselling book Boiling Point: Government Neglect, Corporate Abuse and Canada’s Water Crisis.