Continued from page 1 water imports are the only alternative, he said. “Is there a threat to the environment (from water diversion schemes?) Of course there is,”” Scott asserted. Holm, an economic consultant, is also head of the 140-member B.C. “Small” Small Business Association, a group which has been pressing the federal government to come up with answers on the water export question since last December. Her group calls for a halt to all water exports — including the seemingly innoc- uous bulk container kind, such as that entailed in a recent agreement between B.C.’s Western Canada Water Enterprises Ltd., and Signet Corp. of Houston, Texas. The agreement provides “ultra large water transport ships” to facilitate the Canadian firm’s plans to ship water to clients in Mex- ico, California and the Middle East. Through correspondence to trade nego- tiators, former international trade minister Pat Carney and various MPs, as well as briefs, the business group has consistently warned about Article 409 and other articles of the free trade pact, and have demanded the Conservatives release earlier versions of the text — versions alleged to contain an exemption for water. Holm cites a letter received from Cana- da’s Trade Negotiator’s Office that “‘a good legal argument could be made that water = ; 7 ¥ aah Poe a S Ss ? oi 12 ¢ Pacific Tribune, May 25, 1988 . B.C. water export ‘part of free tradé SS WENDY HOLM halt all exports. water would be considered a ‘good’ under Article 409...” But the negotiator’s office did not prom- ise to specifically exclude water from the free trade pact, stating that Canada “did not wish to muddy the waters . . . by raising any issues which stand to prejudice our negotia- tions with the Americans.” Carney had assured Holm in letters that water was definitely exempt from the deal. But Holm said that when challenged to point out where in the draft text water is excluded, Carney’s trade advisor Chris Thomas was forced to admit there was no such exemption. That suggests that mention of water could have been dropped during the “11th hour” at U.S. insistence, Don Gamble and Mel Clark argue. Clark, former deputy head of the Cana- dian delegation to the GATT round of negotiations in Tokyo, and Gamble, execu- tive director of the Rawson Academy of Aquatic Science, set out their case in a. Toronto Star article May 19. In it they asked, ‘“‘Why were interbasin transfer waters not excluded from the agreement? Did the U.S. press for the inclu- sion of such waters and, if so, what were its reasons and why did Canada agree?” There have been at least four major schemes to divert water to the United States by a massive diversion of the northward flow of waters. One of these, initiated and funded by a federal grant in 1959; envisi- oned the conversion of James Bay into a gigantic fresh water reservoir with the con- tents piped into southern Canada and the ‘United States. That scheme, touted by four engineering firms grouped into the Great Recycling and Northern Development (GRAND) Canal project, was being placed before the Pearse Inquiry into Canada’s water resources as late as 1984. It appeared to have been put to rest last November when Environment Minister Tom McMillan released the long- Will your child be enrolling for the first time or coming to a new school in September? If you have a child entering Kindergarten or enrolling in a new Vancouver school in September, you can register now by calling the school or visiting the school office. You'll need your child's birth certificate and record of immunization. Children entering Kindergarten in September must be five years old by December 31, 1988. Ask for a copy of / Come to School, published by the Vancouver School Board. It is designed to be read by parents with their children and it offers a look a the Kindergarten program in Vancouver schools. | VANCOUVER PUBLIC SCHOOLS NO BETTER PLACE TO LEARN! at KEN WARDROPER ... Canada’s ecol- ogy at stake. awaited federal water policy in the House. That policy stated that the government would “take all possible measures within the limits of its constitutional authority to prohibit the export of Canadian water by interbasin decisions, and strengthen federal legislation to the extent necessary to fully implement this policy.” But the free trade pact will override fed- eral policy where it does not concur with the pact’s terms, Gamble and Clark pointed out. The trade negotiator and water scientist noted that Simon Reisman promoted sel- ling water to the U.S. before his appoint- ment as Canada’s chief free trade negotiator. In an accompanying article the Toronto daily also cited a profile on Prime Minister Brian Mulroney in Fortune magazine. The U.S. business monthly said the PM was “prepared to sell some of his country’s abundant fresh water — a shocking thought in Canada and one most previous Canadian political leaders wouldn’t have entertained for a moment.” Gamble and Clark wondered if conces- sions on water exports would be made dur- ing the next round of free trade negotiations. And, they said, the federal government should make it clear if the pact will “‘make it possible for a province to negotiate an agreement with the U.S., or certain states, to export interbasin water.” One thing the Conservatives’ water pol- icy allows is provincial jurisdiction over the bulk export of water, suchas Western Can- ada Water’s business of capturing and ship- ping water that empties Link Lake over - Ocean Falls into the Pacific Ocean. An agreement hammered out with the state legislature will see the shipment of 120 million tonnes of glacial water per year — paralleling the consumption of water in Vancouver in 1986, Expo year — to Cali- fornia. The small business group opposes the scheme, but it is not against bulk shipments per se, Holm said. “We are opposed to relinquishing Cana- dian sovereignty over the export of this TRIBUNE PHOTO — DAN KEETON resource ... .” Holm wrote in a letter 10 Carney. Writing to Senator George C. van Rog gen, chair of the Canadian Senate’s stand- ing committee on foreign affairs, Holm said: “If, for example, in six years time we learn that the depletion of fresh Water inflows to our coastal ocean as a result 0 water exports from Ocean falls is harming our coastal fishing and fish farming indus tries ... it would be in the economic 4B public interest of the province to cur water exports. Under the terms of Aaticle 409 of the FTA, our hands would be tied. She notes that Western Canada Water” has been granted 15 years exclusive rights by the provincial government to export water, with the option of extending the COn- tract indefinitely. “We say that water is a public resource and it should be managed publicly,” forthe — good of a technologically innovative Cana dian industrial strategy, Holm said. f But an internal government TP obtained by Holm links the privatization of B.C. Hydro with the water export issue — Noting that the Crown corporation CU rently has control over the flow and storage of much of B.C.’s water resources, it SAYSs_ “An examination of the privatization POS~ sibilities within B.C. Hydro should giv consideration to future opportunities 11 a province ... with regard to the sale/expore of water and the role B.C. Hydro may plas | in that.” 3 Holm said Ottawa’s apparent ban OR interbasin diversion — and McMillan’s dismissal of the “cream-skimming” water exports such as Ocean Falls as irre evant — only makes the bulk shipment trade all that more marketable. Still; she warns, the GRAND Canal backers have recently doubled their lobby-~ ing efforts for the $100-billion scheme. In@_ letter sent to McMillan and all MPs last March by GRAND president Tom Kierans urged reconsidering the water policy. And the company told a May conference” on water resources that “halting transfers OF needed water to shared basins may prompt U.S. action to safeguard their welfare 7 ways which are not in Canada’s best inter ests.” = Holm noted current Congressional house speaker Jim Wright’s comments WO decades ago in which the prominent Demo~ crat said: “There is to the north of us @ stupendous supply of water ... enough t” satisfy our predictable wants for years tO come. We need to develop a means of get ting that water.” j Gamble and Clark in their Star article note that “If implemented, the trade agree- ment would override the federal water pol- icy in the event the policy conflicted with it. A unilateral policy statement made by either the Canadian or U.S. governments does not change the rights and obligations set out in the trade agreement.” They argued that is “essential that Cana- dians understand the implications of this situation before Parliament and legislatures consider legislation to implement the trade agreement.” : en gee ee Ae eee ee ee ee Address .. CMe ee eer eet So ee ee Ya ee Se er eee eeeens eee eee ee A cha pe oe re ol ..... Postal Code lamenclosing 1yr.$200 2yrs. $350) 3yrs. $500) Foreign 1 yr. $320 Bill me later Donation$........ READ THE PAPER THAT FIGHTS FOR LABOUR 1} FRIBONE Published weekly at 2681 East Hastings Street Vancouver, B.C. VSK 1Z5. Phone 251-1186 Name@=saa0s eee ee melee et ed eoeweeee