This morning I presented to the Standing Committee on Transport, Communities and Infrastructure via video conference at their last meeting to review the Navigation Protection Act (NPA), formerly the Navigable Waters Protection Act (NWPA).

This is the act that was gutted by the former Harper government, leaving only 97 lakes, 62 rivers and 3 oceans protected under the act. The Trudeau government has committed to review environmental and freshwater legislation including the NPA, the Fisheries Act and the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act.

There's no question we had it bad with the former Harper government.

It slashed protections for 99 per cent of lakes and rivers that previously existed in the Navigable Waters Protection Act and removed safeguards under other water legislation.

People are hungry for real change. But one year later, are Justin Trudeau's actions speaking louder than his words?

Trudeau's ministers assure Canadians that they are modernizing water and environmental legislation like the Navigation Protection Act and will create nation-to-nation relationships with First Nations.

Ottawa residents came out Tuesday to hear about the threats that would be posed to waterways by the 1.1 million barrel-per-day Energy East Pipeline.

The Council of Canadians and Ecology Ottawa co-hosted an evening town hall at the Ottawa Public Library to explore the impact Energy East tar sands pipeline may have on water, particularly the impact a spill would have on the Rideau, Mississippi and Ottawa rivers. 

The town hall focused on the newly released report from Montreal-based technical firm Savaria Experts-Conseils.

The tap water at the Potlotek First Nation in Nova Scotia is discoloured, foul smelling and does not meet Canadian drinking water guidelines. 

The good news is that officials from Indigenous and Northern Affairs (INAC) and Health Canada visited the First Nation community yesterday to announce that Potlotek will get a new water system.

The CBC reported that, "[INAC says] a group created to address the water problems in Potlotek was established more than a year ago, [and that] design work on the plant at the Potlotek reserve is due to begin soon but offered no specifics on when it would be completed."