It's the water stupid

[Cobalt_Kid]

So where does the SPP summit leave us. Harper would have us believe it's all about trade, security and jellybeans????

The fact that water was downplayed says it all. It's the one resource that none of us can live without for more than a few days. Our industries use up tremendous amounts of it, especially the oil sands here in Canada. The fastest population growth in the US is in southern California, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona and other southwest states. States that are already lacking in adequate water sources to start with. The largest US midwest aquafer is being depleted at a rate 14 times faster than nature can replenish it having major consequences for agriculture, industry and drinking water. Where does the US go when the water crunch inevitably hits, it only has one option and we're it. So who stands up for Canada, the same man who used his tantric yoga skills to bend over far enough to please conservative US needs on softwood and Afghanistan??

In a time of changing climate and repeated water shortages here in Canada in areas with a traditionally rich supply like the BC lower mainland and Victoria, and serious drought at times in Alberta do we just let things slide and hope for the best? Best not to forget about the retreat of glaciers too, many rivers will lose flow over that issue.

To treat this SPP agreement as somehow being as insignificant as syncronizing trade in jellybeans is imbecilic and is just one more indication how unsuited our current Prime Minister is for the job of running a democracy.

 

[Twila]

McLeans magazine had a very interesting article about Canadian water a couple of years ago. They actually went so far as to suggest should a crises arise Canada would be invaded by the US for our water.

 

[Niflmir]

Yeah, the SPP position on water is unknown, mostly do to the lack of transparency in the process. It is incredibly hard to tell whether we should be worried about it or not. Supposedly, anything specifically not excepted in NAFTA is covered by NAFTA, so technically NAFTA should cover water. But we still have the sovereignty to pass national regulations and the SPP shouldn't be able to change much of that, but there are tools in NAFTA to seek damages over regulations which damage market "openness".

All in all, there is not much one can tell. The most worrying thing is that new legislation may come out of the SPP, and if the rate at which filming your friends on a camera phone in a theater became a crime is any indication, our government can pass some pretty stupid laws before the public gets a chance to really comment on it.

 

[tamarin]

Maybe the problem is democracy. I think the West is getting tired of it.

 

[Niflmir]

Maybe the problem is democracy. I think the West is getting tired of it.

What would you do if the coup made you the leader, tamarin?

 

[hermanntrude]

Maybe the problem is democracy. I think the West is getting tired of it.

I know i'm heartily sick of it.

 

[Unforgiven]

That's the thing about choosing up sides. Everyone ends up stuck with the assholes they keep to beat the other guy with. So it's always the nice reasonable intelectual people getting bossed around the flat top neanderthals who want to break it, **** it or make it go faster.

 

[tamarin]

Ah, now that would be a gift to the world and an inimitable offering to the country itself!
First off, judicial system reform:
- liquidation of all career criminals
- immediate system-wide criminal code updating to eliminate redundant phrasing and legalese and make it super accessible to the public; we live in a world where virtually everything's been modernized excepting the law profession and its stranglehold on process
- reintroduce the lash to give first time criminals a taste of what's to come and then release them
- immediate deportation of all illegal immigrants and stiff criminal sanctions against those harbouring them
- expunging adolescence and all its trite legal protections and protectors, and making anyone 12 and over fully responsible for their crimes and publicly revealed
- confiscation of all the assets of white collar criminals until every last cent is repaid to victims and companies and institutions

That's a start!

 

[Niflmir]

Ah, now that would be a gift to the world and an inimitable offering to the country itself!
First off, judicial system reform:
- liquidation of all career criminals
- immediate system-wide criminal code updating to eliminate redundant phrasing and legalese and make it super accessible to the public; we live in a world where virtually everything's been modernized excepting the law profession and its stranglehold on process
- reintroduce the lash to give first time criminals a taste of what's to come and then release them
- immediate deportation of all illegal immigrants and stiff criminal sanctions against those harbouring them
- expunging adolescence and all its trite legal protections and protectors, and making anyone 12 and over fully responsible for their crimes and publicly revealed
- confiscation of all the assets of white collar criminals until every last cent is repaid to victims and companies and institutions

That's a start!

I do believe there are still some countries like that... well except the legalese part...

 

[Cobalt_Kid]

Yeah, the SPP position on water is unknown, mostly do to the lack of transparency in the process. It is incredibly hard to tell whether we should be worried about it or not. Supposedly, anything specifically not excepted in NAFTA is covered by NAFTA, so technically NAFTA should cover water. But we still have the sovereignty to pass national regulations and the SPP shouldn't be able to change much of that, but there are tools in NAFTA to seek damages over regulations which damage market "openness".

All in all, there is not much one can tell. The most worrying thing is that new legislation may come out of the SPP, and if the rate at which filming your friends on a camera phone in a theater became a crime is any indication, our government can pass some pretty stupid laws before the public gets a chance to really comment on it.

Does it really matter if we know what the SPP position on water is?

The fact are we know for certain that water is already a scarce resource on much of the planet. In places like Northern Africa lack of water is leading to war, that's what Darfur is all about. The drying up of lake Chad and aquafers there has brought different groups into direct conflict.

We can live without oil and most other products, some of the essentials we can't live without are coming under heavy pressure. Corn is now being turned into ethanol for fuel and there are predictions of shortages in North America, it certainly going to be more expensive to feed ourselves. People living on the margin will be in even more jeopardy. With climate change water is going to an even more pressing concern, the US population is only going to get larger and with more people living in places like Vegas with its insane water demands the picture doesn't look good. We don't need to wonder if there's going to be bulk water exports to meet US needs, that's inevitable. What we do need is a government that is going to be honest and open about any deal made to export our #1 resource. A government that will look out for our needs even if that means pissing off some US politicians.

As for democracy, you get what you put into it. We are our democracy and if it's too much effort in maintaining a say in how we're governed we'll eventually find out how unkind life can be when you let other make all the decisions for you. Like people have found out in the communist block in the past and still in places like North Korea today. Democracy may be hard but it beats the alternative.

 

[dumpthemonarchy]

No selling of bulk water to the US, no shipping in ships and no pipelines. Only bottled water in limited amounts.