The government's intent, according to a spokeswoman, is to assist "everyday Canadians" in their dealings with federal fisheries bureaucrats.
And the official said allegations that the government is giving in to demands from energy and mining lobbyists are false.
"These are changes being made in our department that are designed to help Canadians — everyday Canadians: landowners, municipalities, farmers — be able to undertake activities on their properties without obtrusive interference by our department," said Erin Filliter, spokeswoman for Fisheries Minister Keith Ashfield.
But opposition critics and environmental groups say the government is misleading the public about what they say is a move in the 431-page bill to appease the natural resource sector.
"The legal protection for fish habitat has been completely eliminated," said Jessica Clogg, executive director and senior lawyer for West Coast Environmental Law.
New Democratic Party fisheries critic Fin Donnelly said Ashfield is not being honest with Canadians when he insists that corporate lobbying had nothing to do with the changes.
"They are trying to hide these changes from the Canadian public," Donnelly said.
The new legislation says the government is eliminating the key provision in the act, section 35 (1), which says "no person shall carry on any work or undertaking that results in the harmful alteration, disruption or destruction of fish habitat."
The government's new wording will state that "no person shall carry on any work, undertaking or activity that results in serious harm to fish that are part of a commercial, recreational or Aboriginal fishery, or to fish that support such a fishery."
The government defines "serious harm" as "the death of fish or any permanent alteration to, or destruction of, fish habitat." And the minister will make decisions on allowing harm to fish based on their "contribution . . . to the ongoing productivity of commercial, recreational or Aboriginal fisheries."
Critics say the government is changing the law to make it easier for companies to advance major projects like Calgary-based Enbridge Inc.'s $5.5 billion proposed oilsands pipeline to the B.C. coast.
The pipeline goes over an estimated 1,000 waterways and Ashfield acknowledged that some of them won't fit the definition of a stream that is part of either of the three fisheries.
Enbridge has complained of "onerous" requirements from Fisheries and Oceans Canada, according to internal documents released under the Access to Information Act, but Ashfield said earlier this week he wasn't swayed by the company's concerns.
"No, Enbridge lobbying did not influence this decision," he told Postmedia News.
The company "has certainly never influenced me in any way, shape or form. I've never sat down with Enbridge, I've never had any discussions with Enbridge."
While the federal lobbyist registry shows no meetings between Enbridge and Ashfield since he became fisheries minister, records do show the Calgary-based company has been busy.
Enbridge Inc. chief executive Pat Daniel, for instance, lobbied Prime Minister Stephen Harper's chief of staff Nigel Wright in December on the company's push for "regulatory streamlining — seeking improved efficiencies in the government secondary permitting processes for department of fisheries and oceans permits."
And Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers President David Collyer met last month with Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver. The subject was a proposal to "repeal" the Fisheries Act and create new fisheries legislation.
And Ashfield has had his share of meetings with others interested in the impact of Fisheries Act regulations on their companies.
Kinder Morgan Canada Inc. lobbyist Brian Klunder met in late January with Ashfield and the minister's chief of staff, Fred Nott, to discuss "energy policy relating to pipeline development." Kinder Morgan recently announced it is seeking National Energy Board approval to sharply expand the capacity of its oil pipeline system from Alberta to Burnaby, B.C.
Ashfield also met with Vancouver-based Teck Resources Ltd. president Donald Lindsay last November to discuss "the Fisheries Act with regards to fish habitat protection."
Original Article
Source: ottawa citizen
Author: Peter O'Neil
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