We’ve been speaking with government officials and MPs about restoring protections to navigable waters. Groups, and individuals, across the country are uniting in calling on the federal government to deliver on its promise. The time to get environmental laws right and #fixNPA is now.

In November, the Canadian Freshwater Alliance, along with environmental organizations from across the country, went to Parliament Hill to call for environmental law reforms. To see our recommendations, take a look at our collective briefing note. We met with cabinet ministers, Senators, officials, and MPs and bureaucrats in Ottawa about the Fisheries Act, the National Energy Board Act, the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) and the Navigation Protection Act. But, the work is not over!

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to draft a new vision for environmental protection in Canada. Now is the time to call on government to make substantive changes to environmental laws, and to bring back lost protections. Before the bills are introduced, our leaders need to know that we expect lost protections for Canada’s navigable waters to be restored.

Join us Thursday, December 14th at 12pm ET for an online conversation on steps you can take, like meeting with your local Member of Parliament, to help ensure we get the strongest laws for Canada’s waters. You can RSVP here.

Canadians like you are filling gaps in navigable water protections by submitting nominations of rivers and lakes, and by calling on the federal government to restore protections for all waters.

Choosing the Right Database for your Engagement Programs

Hands down, the most frequent question that I get asked is “what is the best database”?

It’s a question that I continue to struggle to respond to. The answer depends on a number of key criteria such as the engagement priorities of your organization; if and how the database connects to other systems (e.g. financial systems); and how much capacity your organization has to manage, customize and fully integrate the system.

Why Use a Database Anyway?

I just got a new e-book about how to measure success. The email promo for the book professed that “the best run service companies know how to measure success. The first step is understanding the data that is driving your business.” This is wholly true for non-profits as well--and your database will help you get there.

Finding your database match will deepen engagement with your supporters.

How do you have a meaningful relationship with 1000, or 10,000 people? Ten years ago, I was asking myself this question knowing that there had to be a better way than sifting through the folder of Excel spreadsheets that listed my organization’s supporters. I dreaded this task. Besides being labour intensive, mining data from spreadsheets is at best a challenge and does not support identifying ways to better communicate with the people who wanted to support our work. Back then, I wish I knew what I do now: there is a better way.

Access to millions of rivers and lakes rests on how the Navigation Protection Act is revised. Now is the time to nominate your home waters to join ALL navigable waters for protection from barriers that block navigation. You can join a movement calling on the Navigation Protection Act to ensure #nowatersleftbehind

People are raising alarm to protect an ecological and economically vital stretch of the Fraser River from developments that threaten critical sturgeon spawning habitat and that change water flows. A recent study of faulty floodgates on the Fraser shows how blocked water flows contributed to poor water quality and less native fish. Though the Navigation Protection Act (NPA) concerns human navigation, it is clear that structures that impede navigability also impact environmental health.

The good news is that the Fraser River falls within the protections of the Navigation Protection Act (NPA) so barriers to navigation (such as faulty flood-gates) could be challenged under the Act.  But millions of waterways lack the immediate protection that being listed in the Act provides. Many may have small communities with little resources to individually challenge harmful developments in court - the only option for those not listed under the NPA. Is this fair? With no government oversight for the cumulative impact of countless developments on unscheduled waterways, like pipelines to tailing ponds, the responsibility has shifted to the public to protect these navigable waterways.

Canada is a country woven together by the the lakes and rivers that span the land from coast-to-coast-to-coast. These waters were the original highways, their flows tied to treaty obligations, their waters providing us with space to swim, paddle and fish. Without a doubt the waterways across the country form a key pillar for community, economic, and physical health.