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Decision deferred on AWARE’s Nottawasaga River request

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In Agencies
Dec 15th, 2013
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A decision was deferred on a presentation by AWARE Simcoe asking for the Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority’s support for its request to have the “Notty” listed under the Navigation Protection Act.

Chair Nina Bifolchi said the matter will be referred to staff for a report and be brought back to the board at its February meeting.

In their 10-minute presentation AWARE Simcoe members Kate Harries (Springwater) and Anne Learn Sharpe (Essa) told the board that unless the Nottawasaga River is listed, local boaters lose an important tool in addressing obstructions to navigation such as large docks, or materials dumped into the river.

The Navigation Protection Act (NPA) was introduced in the federal government’s December 2012 omnibus bill. A series of amendements to the 1882 Navigable Waters Protection Act, the NPA is not yet in force. That’s due to happen in the spring of 2014, according to Transport Canada officials.

While the present legislation covers all navigable waterways (some 40,000 lakes and 2.5 million rivers), the new Act has only 100 lakes and 61 rivers on its schedule.  On its FAQs page, the government explains: “the Government of Canada has made the decision to focus the department’s resources on the busiest waterways in the country, and allow the common law to be the basis for protecting the public right of navigation.”

AWARE Simcoe has launched a petition calling for the Nottawasaga River to be listed and is making presentations to the councils of municipalities through which the river flows.

The first presentation was last month, to Essa Township Council, which on December 4 2013 passed a resolution of support, asking that the federal government recognize the Nottawasaga as a navigable waterway.

Presentations are scheduled to be made to Clearview (January 13), Collingwood (January 14) and Wasaga Beach (January 20).

Essa-Nottawasaga River

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