Executive Summary
Enacted in 1882, the Navigable Waters Protection Act (NWPA) is one of Canada‟s oldest and most fundamental pieces of legislation. The Act protects the public right of navigation by regulating works over waterways such as bridges, dams and docks in order to minimize the overall impact on navigation.

Amendments to the NWPA were introduced in the 2009 federal Budget to help reduce the backlog of applications and streamline the approval process for infrastructure and natural resource projects to address the current economic downturn.

The Act had not been substantially amended since 1886 and many users of waterways recognized the need to modernize the Act. However, some believed that the changes went too far in eroding the public‟s right to navigation and they were concerned that the amendments diminished the public consultation process, transparency and environmental protection, while others believed the changes were long overdue and would help expedite works while maintaining environmental protection.

As part of the streamlining features of the amendments, classes of minor works and minor navigable waters introduced through Ministerial Order were excluded from the application process under the Act. The committee recognizes that the Ministerial Order was used to speed up the rule making process in order to meet short term economic goals. However, now that the minor works and waters criteria have been created, the committee recommends that the federal government develop regulations with the purpose of replacing the Order. The committee also recommends amending sections relating to the incorporation of reference materials.

The committee is also concerned that the users of waterways were not sufficiently consulted or communicated with in a timely manner during the process that led to the amendments which contributed to the apprehension many of these groups felt when the amendments were announced in the 2009 Budget.

The Act plays a wider role beyond protecting the right of navigation because the navigational approval process can trigger environmental assessments. The committee feels that the primary purpose of NWPA should be navigation not environmental policy but it also believes that changes to the NWPA should not occur for the sole purpose of diminishing environmental assessments.

The amendments contain features that received near unanimous support from witnesses such as the increase in maximum fines from $5,000 to $50,000 per infraction per day, additional inspection and investigative powers and the five year review of the Act. However, the committee believes that additional work is needed to improve application processing times. To this end, the committee recommends that the federal government ensure adequate resources are made available to the Navigable Waters Protection Program so that it can better meet its economic targets and its responsibility to protect and regulate the public right of navigation.

List of Recommendations
1. The committee recommends that Transport Canada develop and implement an effective communication strategy and consultation process to seek the views of waterway stakeholders on any future amendments to the Act, including any changes to regulations, and during the five year review of the Act.
2. That the Navigable Waters Protection Program develop regulations to replace the Ministerial Order of May 9, 2009.
3. That Transport Canada amend relevant sections of the NWPA using a process outlined in section 32 of the Canada Shipping Act, 2001 for incorporating reference materials.
4. That the federal government ensure adequate resources are made available to the Navigable Waters Protection Program so that it can better meet its economic targets for infrastructure development and reduce the delays for larger projects while maintaining its responsibility to protect the public right of navigation.

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