OTTAWA CITIZEN
'We are among the worst water-wasters in the world'
Newly appointed as senior adviser to the UN, Maude Barlow tells Chris Cobb that Canada 'desperately' needs to update its laws on water.
Chris Cobb, The Ottawa Citizen
Published: Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Shortly after being appointed a senior adviser to the United Nations yesterday, Canadian activist Maude Barlow attacked the Harper government for refusing to enact legislation to protect Canada's water.

"This government has a 'hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil' policy towards water," said Ms. Barlow, chairwoman of the Council of Canadians.

"They refuse to deal with this issue, they refuse to reopen NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) to protect water from commercial export and they refuse to talk about a National Water Act that we have built a consensus for across this country. Canada desperately needs to update water legislation."

'I don't want Canada supplying water for (American) swimming pools,' Maude Barlow says.

*Ms. Barlow was appointed senior adviser on water issues by Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann, president of the 63rd session of the United Nations. The position is unpaid, but gives Ms. Barlow a higher-profile international role to continue her campaign to make water a basic human right that should be protected from commercial interests. She has written two books and travels the world lecturing about water policy.

"We need watershed management and protection, more sustainable local conservation and infrastructure development to capture storm water and grey water for toilets, lawns and gardens. We can capture huge amounts of water through better local management.

"And in our country, we haven't taken this seriously. We are among the worst water wasters in the world."

All four Canadian opposition parties have taken "excellent" stands on water policy," added Ms. Barlow, who campaigned against the Harper Conservatives in the last election.

"Canada's water supply is threatened because we pollute it," she said, "and because we are over-extracting. It's threatened in northern Alberta because we are destroying the water table to produce energy for the United States. And it's threatened because we don't have up-to-date laws and because we live next to a thirsty superpower that is going to turn its eyes north."

Canada needs to pass legislation that bans the commercial export of water, she said, and change the free trade agreement to remove mention of water.

"It allows American corporations to sue the Canadian government if we start to limit their water intake," she said. "If the Alberta government told American energy companies operating in northern Alberta to reduce the amount of water they use, they would have the right to sue the government."

Vast amounts of water are used in the Alberta tarsands. Two to 4.5 barrels of pressurized water are needed to extract one barrel of oil.

"I spend a lot of time in the States," she said, "and I hear businessmen down there talk about 'Canada's water'.

"We have to be vigilant and have to tell Americans to take better care of their own water. I don't want Canada supplying water for their swimming pools."

(Ms. Barlow talks about her new role during an in-depth interview in this Sunday's Citizen).