URGENT UPDATE: Canada’s water is up for grabs, report confirms

Wed, Sep 12, 2007

RightOnCanada.ca E-Bulletins

Dear RightOnCanada Supporter,

“Make no mistake, Canada’s water, through diversion, transfer, sale, trade or all of the above, is on the negotiating table in Canada/U.S. relations,” concludes a report just published by the University of Toronto Munk Centre.

The report recommends that the federal government end uncertainty about water exports by issuing an unequivocal statement to the governments of Mexico and the United States informing them that bulk water removals from Canada’s major drainage basins will not be permitted.

Yet only a few weeks ago, the Harper government, together with several Liberal MPs, voted against a motion in the House of Commons to prevent bulk water exports and remove water as a tradable good under NAFTA.

If you haven’t already done so, please send a letter telling Prime Minister Harper to protect Canada’s water. And please forward this alert to five of your friends.

Together, we can send a strong message to Stephen Harper to stop the bulk export of water.

Sincerely,

Kathleen Ruff
Founder of RightOnCanada.ca
and Senior Advisor to the Rideau Institute

p.s. For more information, read the full Munk report, or the article in the Globe and Mail.

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3 Responses to “URGENT UPDATE: Canada’s water is up for grabs, report confirms”

  1. gary killeen Says:

    Dear Kathleen, I just found this site yesterday thru my ilwu canada website. Excellent! i will spread the word. thank you for your efforts.

  2. Dan Merchant Says:

    To whom it does concern:

    My name is Dan Merchant a Canadian citizen and fellow inhabitant of the North American continent. I, as well as many others across the continent are organizing mass protests against the Security and Prosperity Partnership. This is a rally call to all people who will be affected by the S.P.P. and essentially a North American Union. If you feel inclined to promote this international initiative please add it to your website, email this letter to your contacts, post it on message boards, and advertise it to your local community. Our time is running out to take a stand for our respective countries, so together let us make our governments see that the majority of citizens don’t want a North American Union!

    Don’t hesitate to start a protest in your area…we must all take initiative to make an impact.

    We need someone living in the U.S. as well as someone living Mexico to start a Facebook page dedicated to your countries April 19th protest. This way we can keep each other informed and up to date as well as have a central group where all protests can be listed. To get an idea of what is needed please visit the Canadian Facebook page here: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=10289571699. If you have created your countries’ group, please add the group’s name and link to the contact list at the bottom of the page so we wont get multiple groups. Also remove your country from this paragraph when forwarding and posting this letter. When U.S. and Mexican groups have been created please delete this paragraph.

    Freedom Fighter Radio will be simulcasting various protests during the day of April 19th. If you would like to have your protest broadcast on http://www.freedomfighterradio.net please contact tre_merchant@hotmail.com.

    If you are going to forward this letter, please add your website or organization to the list of websites at the bottom of the page. Thank you and GOOD LUCK!

    ! INTERNATIONAL CALL TO ACTION !

    To all fellow citizens of the North American Continent:

    The 2008 Security and Prosperity Partnership (S.P.P.) meeting will take place in New Orleans on April 21st and 22nd. This partnership is a wide ranging agreement meant to harmonize trade regulations, standards ,and laws across Canada the U.S. and Mexico. It also incorporates security and immigration measures designed to make North America into one continental security zone wherein labour and goods flow freely between transnational corporations without the hassle of borders or democratically imposed trade barriers. It also enables military and para-military forces of ANY of the three countries to operate freely ANYWHERE within the North American continent. This is the pivotal step towards a North American Union and it is being implemented by banking, corporate, and governmental powers, working in concert without public consent or serious media scrutiny.

    ON APRIL 19th, across the continent, people from all walks of life will come together and demand that their voices be heard. International demonstrations against the S.P.P. and North American Union will take place in cities and towns across North America. We will stand united and make it known within the halls of government that our heritage and our future are not for sale. We will act to ensure that ourselves and our children live in a country where our identities and our rights and freedoms are respected and preserved. Canadians, Americans, and Mexicans will mobilize to inform their fellow citizens and to call out their respective governments, demanding to know exactly what the Security and Prosperity Partnership really means to them. Once the full intent of the S.P.P. has been disclosed, the citizens of North America will demand it be stopped. We will order the investigation and impeachment of our elected representatives for going behind our backs and selling us out to unaccountable special interests.

    THE TIME HAS COME to act together, to protect what so many have struggled, fought and died for. There are many ways to improve all of our lives without destroying what we have achieved.

    WE implore you to take action and make a stand for your way of life and for your very freedom.

    JOIN US on April 19th and make a international impact on the Security and Prosperity Partnership!

    WE MUST ACT NOW.

    Yours Truly,

    Citizens United Against The North American Union

    For more information visit:

    -Okanagan Residents Against the NAU (Facebook Group)
    http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=17208823656

    -www.stopspp.com

    -www.canadianactionparty.ca

    -www.freedomfighterradio.net

  3. Heather E. Reid Says:

    Dear Kathleen,

    Today I watched a Canadian documentary entitled “Hoodwinked – The Myth of Canadian Free Trade”. I was very disturbed by the facts outlined in this documentary and now believe it is important for all Canadians to watch it. A number of prominent Canadian political figures from a variety of political parties outlined their fears that the terms we agreed to in the NAFTA agreement of 1988 have been very injurious to our economy and to our very sovereignty as a nation.

    Over the years we have heard much about the positive effects of NAFTA. Apparently this is a one-sided view and dissenting voices have been ignored by our major newspapers and other media sources. The NAFTA agreement signed by Brian Mulroney’s government in 1988 and continued by the Liberal government which followed, has proven to be very harmful to many aspects of our country.

    Outlined below are a few of the facts which I found very disturbing.

    To fulfil the terms of NAFTA, we are compelled to sell regulated amounts of our oil to the U.S. at the same price we sell it to Canadians and we have a quota that binds us to sell 90% of our natural gas supply to the U.S. Mexico refused to sign away its energy resources in NAFTA in this way.

    There is today a higher level of foreign ownership of companies in Canada than in any other major country. Fully one quarter of our manufacturing base was lost in the first three years of NAFTA. Today we have lost so many Canadian companies to U.S. ownership that there are only approximately a dozen widely-held Canadian owned companies remaining. This is important because “head office” decisions during times of economic difficulty always tend to favour U.S. workers at the expense of Canadian workers. There has been a significant increase in the number of Canadians employed in “low end” jobs, while the “value added” jobs are being lost to citizens of the U.S.

    I was also alarmed to learn that our government’s ability to enact strict environmental protections is severely hampered by a clause in NAFTA which gives every U.S. corporation the right to sue our government if it enacts legislation which will interfere with its profits. This clause has been enforced on a number of occasions, preventing pollution controls and even the marketing in Canada of the Canadian-produced electric car.

    Apparently the terms of NAFTA have created more trade for Canada but the quality of that trade has favoured the U.S. with Canadians becoming more involved as assemblers of items sold by the U.S. and exporters of natural resources. Many innovative fledgling Canadian companies have found it difficult if not impossible to thrive in this country.

    The good news is that there is a clause in the NAFTA agreement which allows Canada to opt out after giving six months notice. Many former political leaders are becoming convinced that this would be a wise course to follow. It would take enormous political will, which means, of course, great public pressure. The benefits of regaining control of our natural resources, our economy and the freedom to govern ourselves unfettered by the dictates of U.S. corporate rules would also be enormous for Canada and all Canadians.

    I urge you to watch this documentary and to use your considerable influence to help bring this important issue to the attention of Canadians and the Canadian government. We need to “wake up” all Canadians to this very real problem which we have the power to solve. For more information about the documentary please visit http://www.hoodwinked.ca

    Sincerely,

    Heather Reid


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