US Coming for Canadian Water

[Dardedar]

From a French Canadian newpaper:

Preventing Massive Water Transfers
By Louis-Gilles Francoeur
Le Devoir

Thursday 26 April 2007

As of today, environmental, social, and union groups from all over Canada will try to block a North American pact on Canada's water resources and other natural wealth that a handful of private sector oligarchs and the governments of Canada, the United States and Mexico are preparing behind closed doors in the framework of the North American Future 2025 Project.

For the Conseil des Canadiens [Council of Canadians] and the Coalition Eau Secours [Coalition for Water Aid] - two organizations that bring together dozens of union, social and environmental agencies - the Calgary meeting, which will bring together the partners in this project to "continentalize" resources, is, in reality, nothing but a disguised way for the United States to appropriate Canada's water resources, just as the country has already taken control of 50 percent of the Canadian gas and oil sectors - 70 percent of the production of which now feeds the energy bulimia of our southern neighbors.

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According to the documents publicized by the two Canadian coalitions, this meeting provides for a Friday roundtable on the "future of the North American environment" that will notably address "water consumption, water transfers, and manmade deflections of water in bulk" with the objective of realizing "the optimal concerted use of available water" in North America, i.e. of Canada's water, since it possesses the lion's share of North American water.

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The Conseil des Canadiens and Eau Secours are particularly worried about this initiation of the "continentalization" of resources, which, they believe, conceals a United States' attempt to grab Canadian water resources, since "exchanges" in this domain only go in one direction.

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[Barbara Fitzpatrick]

I hope to heaven (presupposing there is one) Canada stays strong on hanging on to their water. This is the international version of the annual California fight (where southern California - which is already "importing" water from the western Rockies snowpack/melt - tries to get rights to northern California's water). There is a definite section of American society that lives at the 2-year-old "if I want it, it's mine" emotional stage. Unfortunately, that group is more or less in charge (and accuses more mature groups of "hating America") and is also the biggest bully on the block. I've already written/called/emailed Pryor and Lincoln (yes, I know, faint hope) about redesigning the Farm Bill on the very pragmatic grounds that we are running out of water and they aren't making any more. Realistically I know that America will try to steal other people's water rather than changing current industrial, agricultural, and municipal practices - just like our energy policy prefers to steal other people's resources than to change our ways.

[LaWood]

What will Canada be getting in exchange?
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