Jobs and Growth Act, 2012 | |
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A second Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on March 29, 2012 and other measures | |
Date assented to | December 14, 2012 |
Legislative history | |
Introduced by | Jim Flaherty, Minister of Finance |
First reading | October 18, 2012 |
Second reading | October 31, 2012 |
Third reading | December 5, 2012 |
Committee report | November 26, 2012 |
The Jobs and Growth Act, 2012 (informally referred to as Bill C-45) is an Act of the Parliament of Canada. It was passed in December 2012 from the second omnibus bill introduced by the Conservative government to implement its 2012 budget, following the passage of the Jobs, Growth and Long-term Prosperity Act in June 2012. Both bills attracted controversy both for their size (>450 pages each) and for the breadth of provisions contained that were not fiscally related.
"The most contentious amendments to the bill were those to the Navigable Waters Protection Act, which remove thousands of lakes and streams from federal protection under that law. The Conservatives said the changes streamline regulation and remove red tape that held up projects along waterways under the guise that they would impede navigation. Opposition parties say it removes environmental oversight over some of Canada’s most treasured lakes and rivers."
The Green Party argued that Division 18 of Part 4 of Bill C-45 "weakened Canadians’ historic right to navigate the lakes, rivers, and streams of Canada without being impeded by pipelines, bridges, power lines, dams, mining and forestry equipment, and more." They argue that a body of water not mentioned in Schedule 2 on page 424, would no longer be protected from resource development by Canada's first environmental law enacted in 1882, the Navigable Waters Protection Act.
Amnesty International says "changes to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, the Fisheries Act, the Navigable Waters Protection Act, and the proposed Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act have profound implications for the rights of Indigenous peoples as set out in treaties, affirmed in the constitution, and protected by international human rights standards."
[F]ederal legislative agenda that goes far beyond the Department of Aboriginal Affairs. Changes to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, the Fisheries Act, and the Navigable Waters Act, along with the proposed Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act, to name only a few examples, all have profound implications for the rights of Indigenous peoples as set out in Treaties, affirmed in the Canadian Constitution, and protected by international human rights standards.