Sludge Watch ==> Council of Canadians- Siphoning Canada's water to USA?

[Maureen Reilly]

Since this article was written warning of bulk water exports under
the SPP - the Council of Canadians have released documentation on  a
roundtable on the "Future of the North American Environment," April
27, 2007 in Calgary, which will discuss "water consumption, water
transfers and artificial diversions of bulk water" with the aim of
achieving "joint optimum utilization of the available water."  The
roundtable which is part of a series conducted by the North American
Future 2025 Project  is hastening implementation of the SPP (Security
and Prosperity Partnership for North America)  in a trilateral effort
to draft a "blueprint" on economic integration for the governments of
Canada, the U.S. and Mexico.

See : Council of Canadians website:
http://www.canadians.org/media/water/2007/13-Apr-07.html
Leaked document reveals bulk water exports to be discussed at
continental integration talks

http://www.canadians.org/media/water/2007/16-Apr-07.html
Council of Canadians challenges Environment Minister on bulk water
exports

all the best,
janet

p.s The Resource Center of the Americas informs, educates and
organizes to promote human rights, democratic participation, economic
justice and cross-cultural understanding in the context of
globalization in the Americas.

==============================

http://www.americas.org/
Resource Center of the Americas.org

Threat to our Water: NAFTA, the SPP and Super corridors: Canada fears
that under NAFTA, its water will be siphoned off to supply a thirsty
continent.

Threat to our Water: NAFTA, the SPP and Super-Corridors

By Janet M Eaton, Ph.D.

Canadian activists, who see themselves as stewards of the country´s
abundant water resources, have been concerned since NAFTA was
signed-fearing that it threatens our water.  It comes as no surprise
that when early corporate schemes arose to allow the large-scale
export of water from the Great Lakes and Newfoundland´s Lake Gismore,
Maude Barlow, the Council of Canadians and other activist groups
mounted campaigns which led provincial governments to ban the export
of bulk water. Pressure from activists also led to the completion of
a federally-sponsored scientific study which showed that the Great
Lakes could not tolerate removal of bulk water, especially with
global warming playing into the equation. [1]


Unfortunately, these provincial bans were full of loopholes, as was
the subsequent Great Lakes Compact, which would allow limited
diversions outside the Great Lakes watershed area.  Worse, it became
clear that even these partial restrictions were superseded by the
NAFTA, which essentially eliminated local governments´ efforts to
limit trade. There was a growing fear that Canada was just one NAFTA
challenge away from having its national taps being turned on.

As Miguel Picard, economist, researcher, co-founder of CIEPAC and
analyst with the IRC Americas Program has noted: "Under NAFTA...and the
dismantling of borders, it would be difficult or impossible for
Canada to prevent the transfer of water or other natural resources
through trade transactions with the United States."

Even more disconcerting was the move toward deeper continental
integration embodied in the Security and Prosperity Partnership for
North America (SPP) signed March 31, 2005, by the leaders of Canada,
the US and Mexico. [2] The `leaked´ Minutes of a 2004 meeting of  the
Task Force on the Future of North America which led to the SPP
spelled it out clearly:

"No item-not Canadian water, not Mexican oil, not American anti-
dumping laws-is `off the table;´ rather, contentious or intractable
issues will simply require more time to ripen politically."

It also stated that "Mexican oil and Canadian water are invested
with greater emotion than are those same natural resources in other
countries. ...Consequently, policy recommendations on these issues
are best considered long term goals."  [3]

It was clear from that time that the idea of large-scale water
exports was on the back burner, waiting for Canadian attitudes to be
transformed.

Signs that Canadian Water is Now Under Immediate Threat

Two key observations suggest that water has now been moved to the
front burner.  First, the rhetoric to sell Canadian water is being
raised in mainstream media by SPP proponents, journalists, business
strategists and investors seeking profits in this potentially
lucrative market.  Headlines from mainstream magazines proclaim
America is thirsty; Let´s sell it before they take it; and Water
Warning - Get Ready for Floods, Dams and Selling our Water
to the US.   [4]  Paul Michael Wihbey, Global Water and Energy
Strategy Team speaking at the recent Global Business Forum Banff this
past September intoned:  "Bulk water exports will take place from
Canada - Manitoba, Newfoundland, Quebec, and British Columbia - in
two to five years." [5]

Second, massive NAFTA Super-Corridors are in the works which will
serve the purpose of trucking goods from Europe and the Far East
through super-ports in Mexico, Los Angeles, British Columbia and
Halifax-and they will include water pipelines along side.  [See
Figures 2 and 3]  The first of these super-corridors being planned is
the Trans-Texas Corridor (TTC), a proposed multi-use, state-wide
network of transportation routes in Texas.
As envisioned, each route will include:  six separate lanes for
passenger vehicles and six for large trucks, freight railway lanes,
high-speed commuter railway lanes, and infrastructure for utilities
including water pipelines, oil and gas pipelines, and transmission
lines for electricity, broadband and other telecommunications
services as depicted in Figure 3.  [6]

The writing is on the wall.  But campaigns are mounting to stop not
only the bulk transport of our water but the Super-Corridors and the
SPP itself. A major protest and Teach In is being planned for Ottawa
on March 31st, [7] when the three leaders meet in their third Summit
to speed the SPP on its way toward North American Union; threats to
our water will be on the agenda as well. In the US, the Sierra Club
Corporate Accountability Committee is forming a working group to
examine the implications of Super Corridors and their impact on water
and the environment. And at the regional level, protests, conferences
and meetings are in the works to create awareness of cross border
regional concerns.

As Tony Clark of the Polaris Institute puts it: "Canadians would do
well to take a closer look at the forces moving behind the scenes to
turn on the taps for massive water exports to the United States." [8]

http://www.americas.org/item_31581

===========================================================

This article is based on a power point presentation delivered at the
"Our Communities-Our Water" conference in Amherst, Massachusetts, in
September, 2006.  It is available on numbers of websites:

Council of Canadians, http://www.canadians.org/water/index.html

Sierra Club US http://www.sierraclub.org/CAC/water

Alliance for Democracy:
http://www.thealliancefordemocracy.org/html/eng/2378-AA.shtml

REFERENCES:

[1] Selling Canada´s Water CBC
http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/water/

[2]  http://www.pm.gc.ca/eng/media.asp?id=1085 / Joint Statement by
President Bush, President Fox, and Prime Minister Martin
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/03/20050323-2.html

[3] Leaked report of the Task Force on the Future of North
America,2004. Council of Canadians Website
http://www.canadians.org/browse_categories.htm?COC_token=23@@36cbd3e64
23c06caef59921ad88ba514&step=2&catid=374&iscat=1

[4] America is thirsty; Let´s sell it before they take it. MacLean´s
magazine, November 24, 2005
Water Warning - Get Ready for Floods, Dams and Selling our Water to
the US by Chris Wood. October 2005

[5] Paul Michael Whidbey, GWEST, Sept 22, 2006, Global Business Forum
Banff , quoted in
"Time to Tap Canada´s water Riches". The Financial Post Sept 27, 2006
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/columnists/story.html?id=dbb04244-
e54d-48f7-bdbc-6d4d03383696; http://www.moneyweek.com/file/17125/look-
to-a-very-liquid-investment.html

[6] TxDOT Texas Department of Transportation,
http://www.keeptexasmoving.org/projects/

[7] learn more about and stop continental integration / NAU - come to
Ottawa - March 30- April 1,  Join COC/CLC/CCPA
http://www.canadians.org/DI/issues/SPP/index.html

[8] Tony Clarke. Turning on Canada´s Tap. Canadian Dimension
http://canadiandimension.com/articles/2006/09/07/646/

More references can be found in the resource section of the Power
point referred to above.

  Janet M Eaton, PhD, of Wolfville, Nova Scotia, is an activist,
academic and independent researcher who works locally and globally to
create awareness of the failures of the globalized corporate
industrial economic growth model and to educate and advocate for
principle centred participatory sustainable alternatives.  She is the
Sierra Club of Canada´s international liaison, to the Sierra Club´s
Corporate Accountability Committee and Water Privatization Task
Force.