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Black Out Speak Out

by theolamb | June 2, 2012
On Monday, June 4th, we will join our co-founders, the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, and take part in BlackOutSpeakOut, an online movement of organizations darkening their websites in protest against specific measures Canada's federal Government is taking to silence Canadians across the country.

Why speak out? Dare to be Deep, our feature marine conservation campaign in partnership with CPAWS, risks serious setbacks if Bill C-38 to implement the 2012 federal budgets is adopted.

This excerpt from a recent blog post by CPAWS explains these setbacks in more detail:

"Canada boasts one of the largest ocean territories of any country in the world and holds 7% of all global freshwater resources in our wetlands, lakes, rivers and streams. From the enormous whales that frequent our coastal waters to the tiniest fish found in the shallow bays of our lakes and rivers, every living part of an aquatic ecosystem is dependent upon the overall health of its habitat to survive.

The federal Fisheries Act, until now one of the strongest pieces of environmental legislation in Canada, will be undergoing some fairly significant changes oncae Bill C-38 to implement the 2012 federal budget has been adopted.  The Act currently restricts the approval of any activity causing the harmful alteration, disruption, or deletion of fish habitat. Under the proposed changes, the Act will now prohibit work which results in “serious harm to fish that are part of a commercial, recreational or aboriginal fishery, or to fish that support such a fishery” and only offers protection against damage or disruption to fish habitat if it is permanent."

To learn more about Bill C-38 and why The Big Wild is speaking out alongside its cofounder, CPAWS, visit cpaws.org.