Dismantling the Dismantling of Federal Protection for Arctic Waterways : revisiting Canada’s New Navigation Protection Act

Abstract

This article calls for legislation with the necessary flexible mechanisms to protect the changing Arctic environment. Drastic changes in the Arctic are caused by from climate change,130 with adverse effects on Arctic waterways.131 Yet in 2012 Canada’s Conservative federal government passed legislation that removed the bulk of Canadian, including Arctic, waterways from federal protection. This article critiques the new legislation and suggests ways through which the Canadian federal government might revise it and develop related legislation that would enhance, rather than diminish, protection for the Arctic.