Council of Canadians

March 8, 2011

Thanks to your emails to Members of Parliament, the Standing Committee on International Trade is now studying the $130-million NAFTA Chapter 11 investment dispute settlement with AbitibiBowater. Council of Canadians board member and trade lawyer Steven Shrybman addressed commiittee today on the implicatioins of the ruling for water management in Canada.

"The case clearly put the concept of water as a public trust on a direct collision course with treaty-based corporate and commercial rights," said Shrybman in his presentation. "However, rather than defend public ownership and control of water, the federal government has agreed to settle AbitibiBowater’s claim."

Shrybman told the committee members that: "by recognizing water as private property, the government has gone much further than any international arbitral tribunal has dared to go in recognizing a commercial claim to natural water resources.

"For this reason, not only will the AbitibiBowater settlement invite similar claims against Canada, but is likely to also be taken up internationally by corporations seeking to establish proprietary rights to water in a world where this non-renewable resource is becoming increasingly scarce."

Contrary to statements from the Harper government, it has never been clearer that water is not safe from NAFTA. Canada must declare a reservation from Chapter 11 for all “measures concerning water, including water in its natural state and as public trust.”

HOUSE OF COMMONS VOTE ON NAFTA AND WATER

On June 4, 2007, Members of Parliament voted to exclude water from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The motion (http://cmte.parl.gc.ca/cmte/CommitteePublication.aspx?COM=10801&Lang=1&SourceId=206534), which passed in the House of Commons by a vote of 134 to 108, recommended that the federal government “begin talks with its American and Mexican counterparts to exclude water from the scope of NAFTA.”

Opposition parties raised the motion in response to a leaked document obtained by the Council of Canadians proving that bulk water exports were being discussed at a closed-door tri-national meeting involving the governments of Canada, Mexico and the United States within the framework of the now defunct Security and Prosperity Partnership.

But the Harper government did nothing. In fact, it has re-started bilateral economic and security integration talks with the U.S. without addressing clear imbalances in the rights NAFTA gives to corporations to challenge resource management decisions by the provinces, as well as environmental, social and public health policy.

Conservative MPs continue to insist today that water in its natural state is protected from NAFTA claims, and that there are policies in place provincially and federally to ban bulk water exports. The AbitibiBowater sellout proves them wrong. A precedent has been set for other foreign-owned companies to claim the exact same treatment as AbitibiBowater received when asserting ownership rights over water, even water in its natural state.

TAKE ACTION - TAKE WATER OUT OF NAFTA NOW!

Send an e-mail to Prime Minister Stephen Harper at pmpm.gc.ca demanding that he respect the vote that was taken in the House of Commons on June 4, 2007, and take the appropriate steps to exclude water from NAFTA.

Subject
Recipients Prime Minister Stephen Harper

CC: Party Leaders
Liberal Party Leader Michael Ignatieff
NDP Leader Jack Layton
Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May

CC: Members of the Standing Committee on International Trade
Lee Richardson (CPC), Calgary Centre: Richardson.Lparl.gc.ca
John Cannis (LPC), Scarborough Centre: Cannis.Jparl.gc.ca
Jean-Yves Laforest (BQ), Saint-Maurice Champlain: LaforJparl.gc.ca
Dean Allison (CPC), Niagara West, Glanbrook: Allison.Dparl.gc.ca
Martha Hall Findlay (LPC), Willowdale: HallFindlay.Mparl.gc.ca
Gerald Keddy (CPC), South Shore, St. Margaret's: Keddy.Gparl.gc.ca
Ron Cannan (CPC), Kelowna, Lake Country: Cannan.Rparl.gc.ca
Ed Holder (CPC), London West: Holder.Eparl.gc.ca
Mario Silva (LPC), Davenport: Silva.Mparl.gc.ca
Claude Guimond (BQ), Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata Les Basques: Guimond.Cparl.gc.ca
Peter Julian (NDP), Burnaby, New Westminster: Julian.Pparl.gc.ca
Brad Trost (CPC), Saskatoon, Humboldt: Trost.Bparl.gc.ca


Edit the letter in the box below:

Dear Prime Minister,

On June 4, 2007, Members of Parliament voted to exclude water from the North American Free Trade Agreement. You were mandated to begin talks with your American and Mexican counterparts to exclude water from the scope of NAFTA.

Almost four years have passed and your government has failed to take action on this crucial matter. Instead, you have revived secretive bilateral economic and security integration talks with the United States without addressing the clear deficiencies with the NAFTA investment protection regime.

It is even more pressing that we reopen NAFTA to exclude water after the $130-million settlement your government reached with AbitibiBowater in August, in which the company was compensated for water rights it cannot legally own under our constitution.

Your inaction shows a disregard for democracy and a blatant indifference to the risk posed by NAFTA and other trade agreements to Canada’s precious water resources. I demand that you take immediate action to remove water from NAFTA.

Sincerely,



Name
Email address

Address:
City/town
Province/territory
Postal code

NOTE FROM EDITOR: Go to this link: http://canadians.org/action/2011/AbitibiBowater.html
to do your letter through the C of C website.