Tag: pei water act

Water Act Debated in Legislature

On By peifsnIn Government Policy, PEI Water Act, UncategorizedLeave a comment

The Water Act was tabled for second reading in the P.E.I. Legislature on November 29. As debate continues, and in the absence of further public consultation, it is important for MLAs to hear from us. The Coalition has identified several ways in which the act could be improved:

  1. Enshrine that water is a right.
  2. Make the fracking ban a real ban
  3. Use the right names for the terms: precautionary principle, intergenerational equity
  4. Do not allow municipalities to to exceed limits on water withdrawals
  5. Put the moratorium on high capacity wells in the Act
  6. Recognize Indigenous title and jurisdiction to watersheds in the Water Act. 

Continue reading “Water Act Debated in Legislature” →

Winter River/Tracadie Bay Watershed Group on the Draft Water Act

On By peifsnIn PEI Water Act, UncategorizedLeave a comment

UntitledSarah Wheatley and Cathy Corrigan of the Winter River/Tracadie Bay Watershed Group made some excellent points in their presentation, including the need to address the issue of moving water from one watershed to another:

“Banning water exports from PEI is a good step, but it doesn’t address an existing problem.

•Water is being exported from the Winter River watershed in the process of supplying Charlottetown with water.

•Other provinces have banned the movement of water between watersheds (ex. BC, ON).

•Small scale exports, across small distances might not cause much issue, but the levels exported from Winter River clearly do have a negative impact.”

See their powerpoint presentation here

Draft Water Act Released

On By peifsnIn PEI Water Act, UncategorizedLeave a comment

The long-awaited first draft of a Water Act for PEI has been released! And now the second round of consultations begins. To help us prepare for the consultations, the Coalition for Protection of PEI Water will hold a MEETING on Monday, March 20 at 7 pm at the Farm Centre in Charlottetown. Everyone is welcome to come and share their first thoughts about the proposed legislation.

DSCF2668Schedule of public meetings

  • Thursday, March 30, 7:00 to 9:00 pm – Kaylee Hall, Pooles Corner
  • Monday, April 3, 7:00 to 9:00 pm – Westisle Composite High School, Elmsdale
  • Wednesday, April 5, 7:00 to 9:00 pm – Credit Union Place, Summerside
  • Monday, April 10, 7:00 to 9:00 pm – Murphy’s Community Centre, Charlottetown

If you would like to make a presentation at one of these meetings, please pre-register with the Department of Communities, Land and Environment, by e-mail sjmoore@gov.pe.ca(link sends e-mail) or by phone (902) 368-5028.

Please note that each presentation will be limited to ten minutes.

Water Act White Paper

On By peiislanderIn Government PolicyLeave a comment
Environment Minister Robert Mitchell tabled the much awaited white paper on the proposed water act.
It is time to get informed and get involved.  A group from the Coaltion for the Protection of PEI Water is working on a letter for the papers to assist Islanders in learning about the process and encourage government to work with Islanders to develop a comprehensive, sustainable act.

Here is a brief description of the timeline:
  • Fall 2015: public consultations on the white paper and what should be in the Water Act carried out in several communities.  A panel made up of some members of the Environmental Advisory Council will be at every meeting, and the meetings will be moderated by the highly respected Jean-Paul Arsenault, who used to work for government and helped with a lot of those previous Reports and Roundtables (which are linked in the white paper).
  • Winter/Spring:  Department of Communities, Land and Environment works on draft Legislation
  • Spring 2016: second series of public consultations on draft water act
  • Fall 2016 (November): Water Act legislation tabled in the P.E.I. Legislature.

This is a very short timeline, and may be too ambitious. BC spent 6 years on their act and are still working on the legislation.
Public engagement and input need to be truly incorporated into the document.

The Department of Communities, Land and Environment website on a water act:
http://www.gov.pe.ca/wateract/

The link to the actual white paper:
http://www.gov.pe.ca/photos/original/wateract.pdf