[All] Fw: water control must remain local

Sat Jul 24 08:26:02 EDT 2010

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Goodyear.G at parl.gc.ca 
To: jkliggett at rogers.com 
Sent: Thursday, July 22, 2010 2:39 PM
Subject: RE: water control must remain local

Dear Jan Liggett,

Thank you for your recent correspondence regarding the issue of water within the Canada-EU Free Trade Agreement negotiations. I am always happy to respond to the questions and concerns of my constituents.

In this time of economic uncertainty, this government is working to open new doors for Canadian business. An economic agreement with the EU has the potential to give a $12 billion boost to the Canadian economy and increase bilateral trade by over 20 percent. The Government of Canada will continue to work closely with all provinces and territories and is pleased to have found a way to directly involve them in the negotiations. 

Canada and the EU had a positive and productive second round of negotiations in January 2010. Canada is committed to negotiating a comprehensive agreement that will open doors for business and help create jobs. Provinces and territories are participating directly in negotiations in areas that fall in whole or in part under their jurisdiction. We will conduct our negotiations at the negotiating table, not in the pages of newspapers and magazines.

With respect to water - our government has been clear that water is not a commodity and will not be put on the table in these negotiations. 

Thank you for taking the time to write regarding this issue. If you have any further questions or concerns please do not hesitate to contact my office.

Yours Sincerely,

Gary Goodyear, P.C., M.P.

Cambridge-North Dumfries

From: Jan Liggett [mailto:jkliggett at rogers.com] 
Sent: June-09-10 7:48 PM
To: Goodyear, Gary - Riding 1
Subject: water control must remain local

Gary,

I find the article below very disturbing and would like to know where you personally and where the govenment stands on the issue of water in the trade agreement being negotiated between the European Union and  the Canadian government?

Thanks,

Jan Liggett

Water control must remain local 

Jun 04, 2010 - 3:00 PM

http://www.yorkregion.com/opinion/editorial/article/829238-water-control-must-remain-local

We have reason to cheer and reason to worry.It's good news that the federal government, through Environment Minister Jim Prentice, promised municipalities across the country to help upgrade local water delivery systems and rebuild more than 25 per cent of our wastewater treatment infrastructure.

He made this commitment at last weekend's Federation of Canadian Municipalities conference in Toronto, in the face of new and stringent federal regulations unveiled in March to protect our water supply. Some 1,000 municipal waterworks need repairs or complete rebuilding to ensure safe and secure water for residents.

The tenth anniversary last month of the Walkerton tragedy reminds us that tainted water can still kill in our modern industrialized nation and that small or large, municipal water systems must be safeguarded.

But while we cheer federal and municipal partnerships to improve water delivery in our towns and cities, a more global threat to our water needs our attention.

A Canadian trade lawyer is sounding the alarm that foreign companies would gain access to our municipal water services - and maybe even our water - if the free trade deal now being negotiated between Canada and the European Union becomes a reality.

The EU apparently wants drinking water services to be included in trade agreements, opening the door to multinational firms, Canadian Steve Shrybman told the Vancouver-based advocacy group Centre for Civic Governance.

He joins with other experts to warn that Canada should not sell its water resources and should be very wary of signing trade agreements which might allow international investment rules to trump locally owned or managed waterworks.

The Council of Canadians is another nationalistic voice declaring that Europe is "thirsty for Canadian water" and wants unlimited access to invest in our water services.

Think that's preposterous? Think 407! Our own Ontario government sold the toll highway to a Spanish consortium - which promply raised the rates on every driver using the road, and can continue to do so with impunity.

Why would we take all the small but vital steps through York Region's Water for Tomorrow campaign to save our water resources - such as buying low-flush toilets and showerheads or rainbarrels - just to let a foreign company invest in and assume partial control of our regional water systems?

Think of all the work done to improve the water quality in the Lake Simcoe watershed and the cleanup over decades of our rivers that used to be dumping grounds. Why would we let those hard-fought environmental projects go to waste?

And if we think oil is the "gold" in the ground everyone wants today, water is likely to be the resource other countries desperately want in future.

Many Canadians believe we should retain firm control over our water and water resources.

While we should be grateful our federal government understands it must help local governments modernize and protect our water supply, we must also ensure our MPs and federal negotiators know foreign companies should never have access to or control of our water.

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