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DAM-L THE TAKING OF CANADA'S WATER - THE FINAL CHAPTER (fwd)
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Subject: THE TAKING OF CANADA'S WATER - THE FINAL CHAPTER
Date: Wed, 1 Aug 2001 15:03:29 -0500
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Right to Water (right-to-water@iatp.org) Posted: 08/01/2001 By mritchie@iatp.org
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Date: Wed, 1 Aug 2001 09:16:39 -0800
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From: holm@pinc.com (Wendy Holm, P.Ag.)
Subject: COLUMN: THE TAKING OF CANADA'S WATER - THE FINAL CHAPTER
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COLUMN: THE TAKING OF CANADA'S WATER
- THE FINAL CHAPTER
Thank you to Country Life in BC editor Peter Wilding
for kind permission to distribute this column early
this month due to the importance of the subject matter.
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THE TAKING OF CANADA'S WATER - THE FINAL CHAPTER
August 2001 Column, Country Life In BC
1,370 words
Wendy R. Holm, P.Ag.
Oh what a tangled web we weave,
when first we practice to deceive...
What Canada does over the next 6 months or so in the water/trade debate
will forever define us as a people and as a nation.
At the end of the day, we will either have retained sovereign control over
our water resources and from that experience gained a sense of empowerment
and validation which fuels Canadian leadership in community and global
sustainability.
Or we will have lost control over Canada's water resources, scrabbling into
the darkness with a whimper not a bang because we feel powerless to do
anything else.
Water is the dividing point; the most critical policy arena of the century.
We owe it to our children's children to quickly get up to speed on the
issue and be as proactive as we can in the upcoming debate. We must all
become involved or Canada's water is, I fear, completely lost.
THE PLAYERS
I personally don't think then-Trade Minister Pat Carney lied about water.
I think she was "had" by Mulroney, who had this one cooked ever since he
appointed former GRAND (Great Recycling And Northern Diversion) Canal
lobbyist Simon Reisman as Canada's trade negotiator in January 1986.
Reisman's appointment came a scant 8 months following his statements to the
Ontario Economic Council that the price of free trade with the US was
massive development of Canadian water exports, that he had "personally"
suggested the idea to leaders of government and business on both sides of
the border and that he had "been greatly heartened by the initial
response".
Following his appointment as Canada's trade negotiator, Reisman said "In my
judgment, water will be the most critical area of Canada-US relations over
the next hundred years. How quickly this issue develops and how much
attention is paid depends on how critical the American water shortage is."
Reisman's US counterpart at the trade table was Clayton Yeutter, a man with
an extensive background in international agriculture, a Ph.D. in
international water law and an long-standing interest in Canada's water.
Yeutter was closely associated with Nixon during the US Army Corps of
Engineers' covert mapping of Canada's northern water resources and a member
of the Committee to Reelect the President in 1972.
The US House Speaker at the time was Jim Wright, a Texas Democrat and one
of the most influential politicians in the US. In his 1966 book The Coming
Water Famine, Wright noted "There is to the north of us a stupendous supply
of water... enough to satisfy our predictable wants for years to come. We
need the water. We need to develop a means of getting that water."
THE DOUBLE-TALK
The denials and ridicule that characterized the government's response to
the water/trade debate were astounding. Mulroney assured Canadians that
when it got down to the negotiations, water wasn't even mentioned at the
trade table, but it wasn't until John Crosbie took over as International
Trade Minister that the web of deception was spun in earnest.
The first lie remains a source of confusion to this day: "Water's not part
of the agreement" said Crosbie in the spring of 1988, "and just to assure
Canadians of that fact, we have introduced an amendment to the free trade
legislation to specifically prohibit bulk water exports."
Slippery words these. The free trade LEGISLATION Crosbie was referring to
is NOT the free trade AGREEMENT but merely the domestic enabling
legislation each party to the international treaty had agreed to enact "to
give full force and effect" to the terms and conditions of the
international treaty. Neither country vetted the other's domestic enabling
legislation and nothing in each country's domestic enabling legislation
changed the terms of the international trade treaty. Crosbie's amendment
DID NOTHING to address the problem.
In response, 13 well known Canadians and I came together and in six weeks -
from idea to typeset - wrote the book Water and Free Trade (Lorimer,
Toronto, 1988), released November 1st, two weeks before the federal
election.
We were optimistic. But the rhetoric was heavy and the boys from Bay
Street (Tom d'Aquino and friends) had money and weren't afraid to lie. In
the end, Canadians were confused. The idea of outright lying by
politicians was uncomfortable. The Tories won the election. And the FTA
was enacted.
Several years later, the NAFTA was signed. Same problems. Same results.
This time, the US chimed in, in the person of Clayton Yeutter, who made his
now infamous contribution to the discussion:
INDENT
Water in Canada's free flowing rivers and lakes is not subject to the trade
agreements. But once water becomes a good of commerce and enters into
international trade, all of the terms of the trade agreement apply,
including national treatment.
RETURN TO REGULAR MARGINS
What Yeutter meant was EACH TIME water becomes a good of commerce and
enters into international trade, all terms of the trade agreement apply TO
EACH EXPORT CONTRACT SO ENTERED INTO. For example, trees standing in a
forest are not subject to the trade agreements but a wooden chair made in
Vancouver and sold to a buyer in Seattle is. If chairs were only
manufactured by the provincial government, and if American buyers wanted to
purchase chairs, the Canadian government couldn't discriminate against them
in favour of a Canadian buyer; we would have to give the Americans equal
access to the chairs; that's what national treatment is all about. A
simple concept that applies equally to water, particularly so because water
licenses (including those for irrigation) are issued by government for
compensation.
Instead, Yeutter's simple statement spawned the
"as-long-as-we-don't-call-water-a-good-it-won't become-one" and
"as-long-as-we-don't-export-the
first-drop-we're-ok-but-once-we-do-all-of-Canada's-water-is-at-risk"
silliness by the feds.
Water is "in" the FTA and NAFTA because it's not "out" (not explicitly
exempted as are raw logs and certain species of fish from the Maritimes)
and because "water" - all natural water other than sea water, including ice
and snow - appears as Item 22.01.9 of the Harmonized Commodity Coding
System of the GATT, to which FTA and NAFTA refer for their definition of
"goods". The rights are there and the tap is open. In perpetuity. Period.
CONNECTING THE DOTS
Eight years ago, a colleague of mine, a lawyer in Alberta, was told by an
executive with one of the large pipeline construction companies that they
were laying TWO parallel pipelines. "What for" she asked. "One for
natural gas and one for water" was the prompt and candid reply. Several
years ago, Alberta Premier Ralph Klein made a special trip to California to
promote Alberta resources.
In May, Bill C-6 (An Act to Amend the International Boundary Water's Treaty
Act, the federal government's only response to the water/trade crisis)
received Second Reading. When implemented, C-6 will establish water export
permits at the pleasure of the Minister of International Trade, setting the
stage for transcontinental water sharing.
A few days before the G-8 Summit, US President George W. Bush finally said
he wanted to talk water. In a Washington interview with the Globe and
Mail, Bush said "I look forward to discussing this with the Prime
Minister... at any time because water is valuable for a lot of our
countries", adding he would be open to "any discussions" about a possible
continental water pact - along the lines of the co-operation talks now
under way between Canada, the United States and Mexico on energy - to pipe
Canadian water to the parched American southwest. At the G-8 Summit,
Chretien unexpectedly announced (pre-empting a ruling by the National
Energy Board) his support for an "over the top" MacKenzie Delta route for
Alaskan natural gas. Why are both men are smiling?
The ONLY solution to the water/trade dilemma is for Chretien to stand up to
the Americans and demand an exemption for water under the goods, services
and investment provisions of the NAFTA. And threaten to walk from the deal
if we don't get it. Trust me, the Americans will grant the exemption
before they walk from the NAFTA. But only if we make it their only option.
IF CANADIANS CANNOT RESOLVE THIS ISSUE, WITH ALL THE HISTORY BEHIND IT, WE
DO NOT LIVE IN A DEMOCRACY. It is the 11th hour, and hardball is the only
game. Send me your ideas. Become involved. For Canada's sake.
holm@pinc.com. 604.947.2893.
- 30 -
HOLM'S CREDENTIALS ON THE WATER/TRADE ISSUE
____________________________
Wendy R. Holm, P.Ag. is an Agrologist, Agricultural Economist and
Journalist who lives on Bowen Island, British Columbia. She was recently
named Agrologist of the Year 2000, in part for her work on the water/trade
issue. Editor/Contributing Author of the book Water and Free Trade
(Lorimer,1988), Holm has written and spoken extensively on the policy
implications of water's inclusion in the trade agreements for over a
decade. Former President of the BC Institute of Agrologists, former BC
director of the Agricultural Institute of Canada and former Chair of the
Board of Trustees of Ethical Funds Inc., Holm writes a monthly column for
the farm press and is a recipient of the Queens Commemorative Medal by the
Governor General for "contribution to community" (1993).
Holm recently appeared as an expert witness before the House of Commons
Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade on Bill C-6, an Act to
Ammend the International Boundary Waters Treaty Act (a summary of Holm's
testimony is available on request via emai).
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
WENDY R. HOLM, P.AG. THE HOLM TEAM
Agriculture. Economics. Policy. International Co-operation
R.R. #1, L-25 Phone: (604) 947-2893
Bowen Island, B.C. Fax: (604) 947-2321
Canada V0N 1G0 e-mail: holm@pinc.com
Economist, Agrologist, Journalist, Author
CODE of ETHICS: The profession of Agrology demands integrity,
competence and objectivity in the conduct of its Members while
fulfilling their professional responsibilities to the Public, the Employer
or Client, the Profession and other Agrologists.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
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