From InterPressService:
Under the North American Free Trade Agreement, Canada lost control over its energy resources. Now, with "NAFTA-plus", it could also lose control over its freshwater resources, say experts.
Canada's water is on the trade negotiating table despite widespread public opposition and assurances by Canadian political leaders, said Adèle Hurley, director of the University of Toronto's Programme on Water Issues at the Munk Centre for International Studies. A new report released Sep. 11 by the programme reveals that water transfers from Canada to the United States are emerging as an issue under the auspices of the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP).
The SPP -- sometimes called "NAFTA-plus" -- is a forum set up in 2005 in Cancún, by the three partners, Canada, United States and Mexico. Economic integration as envisioned by the powerful but little-known SPP is slowly changing the lives of Canadians, says Andrew Nikiforuk, author of the report "On the Table: Water Energy and North American Integration".
The SPP is comprised of business leaders and government officials who work behind the scenes and are already responsible for changes to border security, easing of pesticide rules, harmonisation of pipeline regulations and plans to prepare for a potential avian flu outbreak, Nikiforuk writes.
"The SPP is run by corporate leaders; governments are irrelevant," said Ralph Pentland, a water expert and acting chairman of the Canadian Water Issues Council.
Pentland envisions a future where, in response to ongoing drought problems in the United States, the SPP will make arrangements to dole out millions of dollars of public funds for private companies to build pipelines to transfer water from Canada.
"The SPP is like putting the monkeys in charge of the peanuts," he told Tierramérica....MORE
That's a pretty strong contender for "Climateer's Line of the Day"
