Changes to Fisheries Act will reduce paperwork, says FCM

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities issued a statement on April 24 welcoming the federal government’s plans to change the Fisheries Act. FCM President, Berry Vrbanovic, said the changes “will allow governments to spend less time processing paperwork for small, low-risk public works projects and dedicate more resources to protecting fisheries from major threats …” He continued: “These reforms will make it easier for governments to set clear, sensible priorities for protecting fish habitats. Currently the Fisheries Act applies the same protections to rivers and streams as municipal drains and farmers’ irrigation canals. That doesn’t make sense.”

The announcement noted that “Canada has pledged to give the Fisheries Act more teeth by introducing enforcement provisions where none have existed before and giving regulators new legal tools to keep invasive species from entering Canada and harming our environment.”