Federal NDP introduces bill to protect the Peel River
The federal NDP introduced a bill to protect the Yukon's Peel River into the House of Commons today.
The federal NDP introduced a bill to protect the Yukon's Peel River into the House of Commons today.
If passed, Northwest Territories MP Dennis Bevington's bill would add the Peel River to the list of waterways protected under the Protection of Navigation Act.
The Conservative government removed protection of the Peel when it changed the Navigable Waters Protection Act as part of its second omnibus budget bill (C-45).
"After consulting with people in the Mackenzie Delta and in Whitehorse, I knew there was a need to undo the Conservative mistake of removing protection from the Peel,” Bevington said in a release today.
"By removing the Peel from protection, the Conservatives gave a green light to any construction on the river without any review or licence required from the federal government.”
Many northerners in both territories want to see the Peel watershed protected.
As one of the last pristine wilderness areas in North America, the Peel holds a huge potential for tourism, which would be lost if uncontrolled resource development were to go ahead, the NDP MP noted.
Comments (2)
Up 14 Down 1
Joel on Oct 24, 2013 at 6:01 am
This will give protection to anyone that uses the river for shipping. This has nothing to do with protecting it from development except that the river cannot be blocked or impeded, it has to remain open for shipping purposes.
I wonder if Mr. Bevington realizes this?
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bobby bitman on Oct 23, 2013 at 10:07 am
Well here's a good reason to vote NDP in the next election. Harper's pro-China, anti-environment legislation is not good for Canada nor Canadians.