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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Absolutely vital ,Norah and Richard.
Yes the 407 is a wicked example of the idiocy of government failures to
protect the tax payers investments in this land. Water is second
only to the air we breathe in the sustenance of life. We must protect and
keep it local especially . We have more hydrogeologists and water
specialty people in Waterloo Region than anywhere in North America because
we are one of the largest communities built on TOP of it's own water
supply. Ginny</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=nrchaloner@hotmail.com href="mailto:nrchaloner@hotmail.com">Norah
& Richard</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=all@gren.ca
href="mailto:all@gren.ca">gren</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, June 09, 2010 12:00
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [All] water control must remain
local</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV><SPAN class=next></SPAN><A
title="Permanent Link to Water control must remain local"
href="http://yrea.org/blog/?p=662" rel=bookmark><FONT color=#000000>Water
control must remain local</FONT></A>
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<DIV class="post-title fix"></DIV>Jun 04, 2010 – 3:00 PM</DIV><!--/post-title --></DIV></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></DIV>
<DIV class=tags><A href="http://yrea.org/blog/?tag=water" rel=tag><FONT
color=#6d9f23><BR></FONT></A></DIV>
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