Great Lakes Compact must protect against all Diversions
September 24, 2008
Great Lakes Compact must protect against all diversions, says Council of Canadians
The Council of Canadians is demanding that the Canadian government intervene to secure an amendment to the Great Lakes Compact which received U.S. Congressional approval yesterday. The organization is calling for an elimination of the loophole that would grant bottled water corporations unlimited access to Great Lakes water in 20 litre containers.
“Although we welcome the Compact’s ban on diversions through pipelines and other means, the bottled water exception is a gaping hole that would undermine the agreement’s ability to truly protect the Great Lakes,” says Maude Barlow, national chairperson of the Council of Canadians. “In remaining silent on this issue, the Harper government has abdicated its responsibility to protect the Great Lakes and the Canadian public interest.”
The Great Lakes - St. Lawrence River Basin Compact is an interstate agreement based on the Great Lakes Annex Agreement signed by Ontario, Quebec and the eight Great Lakes states in 2005. In order to be recognized in U.S. federal law, the Compact had to be approved by the legislatures of all eight states and by Congress. With approval now from both the Senate and Congress, the Compact is expected to be signed into law by President George Bush, who has already signaled his support for it, and become law on December 8.
While the Compact sets out to prevent diversions from the Great Lakes, the definition of diversions does not apply to water as a “product”. The Council of Canadians is concerned about the trade implications of this definition.
“Once their access to Great Lakes water is entrenched in the Compact,” says Meera Karunananthan, national water campaigner for the Council of Canadians, “it will be difficult to regulate corporations taking water out of the Great Lakes in containers because they will be further protected in international trade agreements such as the North American Free Trade Agreement.”
For further information contact:
Dylan Penner, Media Officer: Tel.: (613) 233-4487, ext. 249, dpenner@canadians.org
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The Council of Canadians
700-170 Laurier Avenue West, Ottawa, ON K1P 5V5.
Tel: (613) 233-2773; Toll-free: 1-800-387-7177
Fax: (613) 233-6776
inquiries@canadians.org
www.canadians.org
Great Lakes Compact must protect against all diversions, says Council of Canadians
The Council of Canadians is demanding that the Canadian government intervene to secure an amendment to the Great Lakes Compact which received U.S. Congressional approval yesterday. The organization is calling for an elimination of the loophole that would grant bottled water corporations unlimited access to Great Lakes water in 20 litre containers.
“Although we welcome the Compact’s ban on diversions through pipelines and other means, the bottled water exception is a gaping hole that would undermine the agreement’s ability to truly protect the Great Lakes,” says Maude Barlow, national chairperson of the Council of Canadians. “In remaining silent on this issue, the Harper government has abdicated its responsibility to protect the Great Lakes and the Canadian public interest.”
The Great Lakes - St. Lawrence River Basin Compact is an interstate agreement based on the Great Lakes Annex Agreement signed by Ontario, Quebec and the eight Great Lakes states in 2005. In order to be recognized in U.S. federal law, the Compact had to be approved by the legislatures of all eight states and by Congress. With approval now from both the Senate and Congress, the Compact is expected to be signed into law by President George Bush, who has already signaled his support for it, and become law on December 8.
While the Compact sets out to prevent diversions from the Great Lakes, the definition of diversions does not apply to water as a “product”. The Council of Canadians is concerned about the trade implications of this definition.
“Once their access to Great Lakes water is entrenched in the Compact,” says Meera Karunananthan, national water campaigner for the Council of Canadians, “it will be difficult to regulate corporations taking water out of the Great Lakes in containers because they will be further protected in international trade agreements such as the North American Free Trade Agreement.”
For further information contact:
Dylan Penner, Media Officer: Tel.: (613) 233-4487, ext. 249, dpenner@canadians.org
--
The Council of Canadians
700-170 Laurier Avenue West, Ottawa, ON K1P 5V5.
Tel: (613) 233-2773; Toll-free: 1-800-387-7177
Fax: (613) 233-6776
inquiries@canadians.org
www.canadians.org