[All] Heartbreaking news for Canada's water lovers: Fisheries Act decimated

[Carole Clinch]

Proposed changes to the Fisheries Act - an Act that has been TOO
SUCCESSFUL. in preventing environmental harm.

*Bill C-38*
http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=E&Mode=1&DocId=5524772&File=368#113

*The Environmental Commissioner of Ontario* also discusses these new
changes.
http://www.eco.on.ca/blog/2012/03/20/proposed-changes-to-federal-environmental-laws-could-have-a-big-impact-on-provincial-environmental-regulation/

*Lake Ontario Waterkeeper* comments are below.
http://www.waterkeeper.ca/2012/05/01/heartbreaking-news-for-canadas-water-lovers/

Carole

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[image: Lake Ontario Waterkeeper]
Waterkeeper.ca Weekly:
May 1st, 2012
[image: Lake Ontario Waterkeeper] <http://www.waterkeeper.ca/>
*
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*Heartbreaking news for Canada’s water lovers*

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I remember the first time I sat around a kitchen table in a rural community
giving environmental law advice. I was speaking with a farmer who was beset
by pollution running across his fields and destroying his fish and hunting
camp along the Rideau Canal.

The family had asked my l aw firm what we could do about the landfill
leachate from a major Ontario city dump that was destroying habitat. No one
from the City, the waste company or government had offered to help them.
Now everyone in the room — his wife and mother at the wood stove, his sons
and daughters and grandkids around the table — was keenly awaiting what I h
ad to say.

I asked: Are there any fish in the fields, ditches or nearshore?  The
family told me the bay was once the best fishing area around and that fish
still spawned in the fields and ditches every spring.

I asked: Can I get access to the water draining from the dump to sample as
it runs onto your land? The family told me the exact locations where the
water bubbled up on the dump walls and ran year-round onto their property.

I answered: I can help.

We documented th e fish in the ditches and the bay. We sampled the leachate
(it was toxic). We contacted government authorities and the company,
alerting them that we had evidence the dump was in contravention of the
Fisheries Act. Immediately, they took action to stop the pollution. To this
day, that area on the river is protected from landfill toxins.

My story is not unique. It has been played out across Canada thousands of
times. When evidence of a Fisheries Act contravention was compiled, the
harmful acts were almost always stopped.

Even when government or industry did not act, the Fisheries Act allowed
citizens to enforce the law independently. In fact, the Fisheries Act says
that, if convicted, a polluter pays half of the fine to the individual who
brought the charges. This is meant to “encourage the public to participate
in the protection of community resources.”

Such citizen-led actions form an important part of Canada’s environmental
protection laws. In the past 16 years, I have personally been involved in
investigating legal actions against the Cities of
Kingston<http://www.waterkeeper.ca/2004/05/17/landmark-decision-on-lake-ontario/>,
Hamilton<http://www.waterkeeper.ca/2010/03/22/stalled-the-hamilton-harbour-cleanup-show-10-2010/>,
Moncton<http://www.waterkeeper.ca/2010/05/11/free-petitcodiac-river-flows-again-show-16-2010/>,
Montreal<http://www.waterkeeper.ca/2005/05/30/waterkeepers-final-submission-on-technoparc-investigation/>,
and Toronto a s well as the Ontario Ministry of Environment, Ontario Hydro,
OPG, DTE<http://www.waterkeeper.ca/2010/04/13/case-closed-edwards-vs-dte-energy/>and
other polluters for Fisheries Act violations. That work resulted
directly or indirectly in clean-ups on the Cataraqui River, Humber River,
Moira River, Petitcodiac River, St. Clair Riv er, Lake Ontario, St.
Lawrence River and other waters across Canada. < /p>

All of this was possible because the Fisheries Act made it illegal to
pollute or destroy fish and fish habitat in Canada. The offenses under the
Act were criminal in nature, meaning enforcement was free from political
interference or economic lobbying by industry. The laws protected every
comm unity, regardless of the size of the project, the abundance of fish,
or the “economic value” of nature.

That is all about to be wiped out. The budget implementation
bill<http://bit.ly/Budget2012Impl>that Parliament is considering now
radically changes the Fisheries Act. Under
the new law, cabinet ministers and industry will have unprecedented
influence over fish and fish habitat policy.

Under the new law, decisions about which Canadian communities deserve
protection will be made based on political and economic factors. There is
no role for science or the rule of law.

The consequences of the changes will be felt immediately. Will Lake
Ontario’s fish be protected? Or will our small commercial fishery be deemed
“insignificant”? Will we see sewage treatment plant upgrades in Vancouver,
Victoria, or Halifax? Or will environmental benefits be deemed
“insignificant” in light of the cost? Clean-ups like the ones we saw at the
dumpsite beside the farmers field will most certainly be things of the
past.

When I read about the changes, I know that every farmer, hunter, angler,
and community member who loves access to swimmable, drinkable, fishable
waters will lose out.

I know that, if I was a young environmental lawyer sitting at that kitchen
table today, I wouldn’t be able to offer the same help I did all those
years ago to the farmer and his family. That breaks my heart.

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