OTTAWA-A group of people involved in a grassroots river advocacy organization based in the Province of Quebec say they have been forced to cancel a 20-year-old canoeing and kayaking festival by the federal department of Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC).
Peter Karwacki, vice-president of the non-profit group Les Amis de la Rivière Kipawa (Les Amis) says PWGSC bureaucrats have completely ignored their legal obligations to engage in meaningful public consultation on the environmental impacts of a project to rebuild a federally-owned flood control dam at Laniel.
“For over two years we have made every effort work co-operatively with PWGSC,” Karwacki said. “Every step of the way, PWGSC bureaucrats have lied, hidden information, acted arbitrarily and stepped well beyond the legal boundaries of their mandate.”
Les Amis cancelled their annual white water festival for 2007 after PWGSC published advertisements in newspapers in the Témiscamingue region in May announcing that participants at the 2007 festival would be denied access to the entire top section of the river near Laniel.
“We can draw no conclusion other than that PWGSC is punishing us for standing up for our legal rights as Canadian citizens,” Karwacki said.
The cancellation of the 2007 river festival is just the latest round in Les Amis' efforts to have PWGSC recognize and respect decades of navigation history on the Kipawa River. Over a year ago Les Amis launched a $100,000 legal case against PWGSC and Transport Canada over navigation rights, seeking a judicial review in federal court, of decisions made by the two government departments in 2005 and 2006 related to the Laniel Dam replacement project. That application for judicial review goes before a judge in Federal Court in Ottawa in October.
The Kipawa River Rally is the second oldest recreational white water festival in eastern North America, and has attracted thousands of white water enthusiasts to the Témiscamingue region from as far away as the U.S.
Ironically, PWGSC, the owner of the Laniel Dam, actually co-operated with the Kipawa River Rally for 18 years by adjusting its management regime for the Laniel flood control dam to ensure that sufficient water would be available for the festival. All that ended in 2005 when PWGSC announced their plan to rebuild the Laniel Dam.
The volunteer group has written a very strongly worded letter to Michael Fortier, Minister for PWGSC complaining about the actions of his staff.
"We want him to know that this is a tragedy," Karwacki said. "It is very unfortunate for all concerned. We're going to try to come back next year, but at this point we don't know. If the behaviour of PWGSC does not change, that is going to be very difficult. Instead of trying to support this event, they are doing everything they can to destroy it."
