This proposed change should…

This proposed change should not be approved. While it "streamlines" the process for companies wanting to extract fresh water, it also removes all of the approval processes that govern the permits. Consultation with First Nations peoples and others who live on the land and who depend on the fresh water belonging to all of us for life is essential to the approval process and should be a built in requirement for any approvals. Bypassing this and environmental assessments may streamline the process but also is extremely dangerous and is like handing corporations a blank cheque to draw water forever with few if any oversights. It is also extremely short sighted to allow resource, water, extraction with no fixed time limit or proper evaluation of "costs" to the environment. It is well documented that fresh water is a finite resource - especially ground water - and relies on a constant return to the system. Extracting and polluting water removes this resource from circulation and renewal and the watershed. Dangerous long term consequences are sure to follow. As a resident in a community reliant on ground water for municipal water supply I am especially concerned about the negative impacts of these proposed changes to regulations.