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<span class="next"></span><a
title="Permanent Link to Water control must remain local"
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control must remain local</font></a>
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Jun 04, 2010 – 3:00 PM</div>
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<p><a
href="http://www.yorkregion.com/opinion/editorial/article/829238--water-control-must-remain-local"
target="_blank"><font color="#6d9f23">http://www.yorkregion.com/opinion/editorial/article/829238–water-control-must-remain-local</font></a></p>
<p><span>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.</span></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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?</p>
<p>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?</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>Many Canadians believe we should retain firm control over our water
and water resources.</p>
<p>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.</p>
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