It has become clear in the recent federal budget and through post-budget comments from members of Harper's cabinet that they plan to gut the Navigable Waters Protection Act (NWPA).

This is a very serious issue that affects all paddlers across Canada.

The feds would like to eliminate the developers' obligation to consider impacts on navigation or the aquatic and riparian (shoreline) environment when building dams, bridges, causeways and other invasive structures if the development is on a "minor water" or the development itself is a "minor works."

• There is no such thing as "minor water" - all streams lead somewhere else and any environmental impact visited onto a "minor water" ends up as a "major problem" somewhere, either near or far!
• A "minor water" is anything which is not navigable by a vessel with a one metre draft (sits one metre deep in the water) - that's every canoe and kayak in Canada! Almost all motor boats have a draft of less than one metre!
• The definition of "minor works" mostly includes project neither you nor would consider "minor!"

The new law will ignore all whitewater rivers, all seasonal waterways and many other waterways! Our government is trying to remove the protection provided by environmental assessments from every waterway in Canada, except those big enough for a cruise ship to travel!?!

This is a direct assault on Canada's tradition of river travel and the future health of our waterways by the same people who are supposed to protect both. It is a fundamental breach of public trust.

This time, the Conservative government is using the recession as their excuse, yet they have been working on dismantling the NWPA long before anyone saw a recession on the horizon. Harper and company see the protection of our water and waterways as an inconvenience standing in the way of development. Most of us believe there is nothing wrong with development, provided it is properly planned to protect the lands, waters and resources that belong to Canadians as a whole. A proper environmental assessment determines what might be affected and how to avoid that or mitigate the impact. Changing the NWPA will remove that protection!

The Conservative government is quietly rewriting the act with the help of handpicked stakeholders to foster quick and easy development along all but the very deepest of Canada's rivers. You can help by taking any or all of the following simple actions:

• Call or write your local MP to express your opposition to changing the NWPA
• Write the PM and Minister of Transport to express your opposition
• Share this issue with friends, colleagues, etc.
• Visit ispeakforcanadianrivers.com and sign the online petition
• Vote for somebody - anybody - in the next federal election who will not dismantle our rivers' only form of protection

{rokintensedebate}