Trade deals turning our water over to corporate hands

OTTAWA, ONTARIO - The Council of Canadians will be addressing the International Joint Commission on the management of the Great Lakes tonight concerning the growing threat posed by the advancing free trade agenda to Canada's water.

"The threats posed by trade agreements to our water and our ability to protect is very real," said Steven Shrybman, internationally respected trade and environment lawyer. "These agreements hamstring government's authority to protect the environment through effective regulation. They favour and protect the rights of international investors over the rights of citizens to a safe and sustainable environment."

"Despite recognising the threat of investor provisions under agreements like NAFTA in the original report, the IJC called on the government to spend its time allaying the public fears, not protecting our water from the effects of corporate globalisation," said Jamie Dunn, campaigner for the Council of Canadians' Blue Planet Project, an international initiative to protect the world's water. "We are here to bring the Commission up to date on the advancing trade agenda and enlist their voice in stopping the free trade juggernaut from destroying the world's water resources."

The Council of Canadians was a contributor to the IJC's March 2000 report and has lead a campaign to protect water in Canada from the effects of free trade for more than 15 years. Through its Blue Planet Protect initiative, the Council has expanded its work to support a growing international movement to protect sustainable water use and human rights.

In June of last year, the Commission appointed the International Water Uses Review Task Force to assist it in carrying out the three-year review. The Task Force reviewed the many technical, policy and legal developments that have taken place in the basin and reviewed actions taken by federal, state and provincial authorities to address the issues raised in the Commission's 2000 report.

The Task Force has now completed its work and submitted its report to the Commission, which is holding public hearings on its recommendations.

The IJC public hearing will take place tonight in Montreal, at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel (900 René-Lévesque blvd., Room St. Maurice) at 7 pm.

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