Government of Canada
Symbol of the Government of Canada
Skip to content | Skip to institutional links

Common menu bar links

Home > News Releases > Article

Institutional links

The Government of Canada takes action to protect Canada's Arctic waters and enhance northern sovereignty

No. H 088/09
For release - June 17, 2009

The Government of Canada takes action to protect Canada's Arctic waters and enhance northern sovereignty

OTTAWA — Canada's Arctic waters will be better protected through legislative amendments to the Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act, Canada's Transport Minister, John Baird, announced today. The amendments, which received royal assent on June 11, 2009, will safeguard Arctic waters from pollution and allow Canada to exercise greater control over these waters.

"With these amendments, Canada increases its ability to protect its Arctic waters from pollution by expanding the geographic area covered under the Act, which is aimed at preventing ship-source pollution," said Minister Baird. "These measures will help to ensure environmentally responsible shipping in our Arctic waters."

The amendments extend the application of the Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act by increasing the area defined as Arctic waters from 100 to 200 nautical miles offshore. The expanded coverage will provide Canada with tools to protect against possible pollution from marine activity in Canadian Arctic waters.

The Government of Canada established an Integrated Northern Strategy that is based on four key pillars: promoting northern economic and social development, protecting our fragile northern environment, exercising Canada's sovereignty in the North and improving northern governance. The expansion of coverage of the Arctic shipping legislation is directly linked to this strategy, which commits the government to ensuring a sustainable and comprehensive approach to Arctic shipping.

"The amended Act demonstrates our government's commitment to promoting economic development in Canada's North while protecting our country's environmental heritage and asserting our sovereignty," said Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq, Member of Parliament for Nunavut.

The updated Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act marks an important step forward in the Government of Canada's Integrated Northern Strategy and complements Arctic initiatives already put in place under the Health of the Oceans component of the National Water Strategy.

– 30 –

Contacts:

Chris Day
Press Secretary
Office of Transport Minister John Baird,
Ottawa
613-991-0700

Media Relations
Transport Canada, Ottawa
613-993-0055

Transport Canada is online at www.tc.gc.ca. Subscribe to news releases and speeches at www.tc.gc.ca/listserv/ and keep up-to-date on the latest from Transport Canada.

This news release may be made available in alternative formats for persons with visual disabilities.

Email

Share this article

The Government of Canada and Service Canada are committed to providing visitors with web sites that respect their privacy. This page summarizes the privacy policy and practices on Service Canada Web sites.

  • Service Canada Web sites do not automatically gather any specific personal information from you, such as your name, phone number or e-mail address. We would only obtain this type of information if you supply it by sending us an e-mail or registering in a secure portion of the site.
  • All personal information held or collected by this department is protected under the federal Privacy Act. This means that at any point of collection you will be asked for consent to collect your information or advised of the authority for such collection. You will be informed of the purpose for which it is being collected, how to exercise your right of access to that information, and where and for how long the information will be kept.
  • Service Canada employs software programs to monitor network traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise cause damage. This software receives and records the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the computer that has contacted our Web site, the date and time of the visit and the pages visited. We make no attempt to link these addresses with the identity of individuals visiting our site unless an attempt to damage the site has been detected. Statistical information may be collected for audit purposes or for maximizing effectiveness.
  • Service Canada does not normally use "cookies" to track how our visitors use this site or to determine sites previously visited. If cookies are in use and you have your cookies notification option activated on your browser the system will notify you before any cookies are used so that you may refuse them. (A "cookie" is a file that may be placed on your hard drive without your knowledge by a Web site to allow it to monitor your use of the site.)
  • Visitor information is not disclosed to anyone except Government of Canada personnel who need the information to carry out responsibilities of their job. Any further disclosure of the personal information you give us will be in accordance with the federal Privacy Act. It is to be kept in mind that electronic systems and email are insecure information transmission methods. It is not recommended that sensitive personal information be transmitted electronically.

Questions or comments regarding this policy, or the administration of the Privacy Act on the Canada Site may be directed to:

Access to Information and Privacy
Privacy Policy and Human Rights Division
Service Canada
85 de la Savane, 3rd Floor, Mailstop #42
Gatineau, QC K1A 0J9
Telephone: (819) 934-8903
E-mail Address: nc-atip-aiprp-gat-gd@servicecanada.gc.ca

If you are not satisfied with our response to your privacy concern, you may wish to contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner.







*Required

Date Modified: 2009-06-17

Top of Page
Important Notices