Canada’s Transport Minister, John Baird, announced yesterday that amendments to the country’s Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act, Canadian Arctic waters will be better protected against pollution.  The amendments received royal assent on the 11^th of June and mean that Canada will extend the protection its Arctic waters are receiving and the country will have more control over what happens in those waters.

“With these amendments,” said Minister Baird, “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. These measures will help to ensure environmentally responsible shipping in our Arctic waters.”

The amendments to the Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act extend the area that is protected from 100 to 200 nautical miles offshore.  This extension of protected waters will allow Canada to protect them against the possibility of pollution resulting from marine activity in the Canadian Arctic waters.

Aspects of the Arctic initiatives that are already included in the Health of the Oceans section of the National Water Strategy and these new amendments to the Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act harmonize their approaches to protecting the Arctic environment. And the amendments to the Act form a very important and significant step in the Canadian Government’s Integrated Northern Strategy Act.

The Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act is part of Canada’s larger Integrated Northern Strategy which has four key areas for addressing the North: the promotion of northern social and economical development, Canada’s sovereignty in the Arctic and the improvement in it’s ability to govern the North, the protection of the northern environment and ecosystem and Arctic shipping legislation, which ensures that the government can create a sustainable and all-inclusive plan for Arctic shipping.

Member of Parliament for Nunavut, Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq said,” 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”