Globalization of water resources in Canada
As a signatory of the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, the government has given French utility giants such as Suez and Veolia the right to sue Canadian municipalities who have already privatized their private services to not be able to re-establish municipal control. CETA contains an "investor state" provision similar to NAFTA's that allows foreign corporations to sue the government of another CETA signatory if they believe its laws or practices can reduce or threaten their right to profit. Even more concerning is the fact that CETA will be able to permit Swiss bottled-water giant Nestle, whose water division is currently headquartered in France, the right to challenge provincial
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This gives way to the idea of a socially produced scarcity where corporate and private interests for short-term economic growth linked with the rise of corporate power is converting the abundance of a resource into one that is scarce (Shiva, 2002). As such, water private companies should be excluded from water management, and more efforts should be directed towards instilling a "water democracy". She argues that this dichotomy on both sides of the spectrum of the water governance versus privatization debate are a reflecting of equitable versus inequitable distribution. Water scarcity is a reflection of the users that manage it and the systems that are in place to deliver and distribute water from known aquifers. While this may not be true in more drought stressed areas of the world, in a province like Ontario, it certainly is a reflection of governance, not geographic factors. This urges for a decentralized, community-based, democratic water management under which water conservation will be politically, socio-economically, and culturally inspired rather than economically-motivated. A private regime would provide incentives for water conservation through pricing since the perception of scarcity correlates to increased prices. Problems are evident with our current governance system as well as the private sector and P3s are certainly not a …show more content…
Several figures from the literature reviewed for this paper highlight the importance of the municipal legal framework. Rob de Loë and Reid Kreutzwiser, in Bakker (2007), discuss a proposed water source protection system which recommends that municipal land use planning decisions and provincial instruments such as certificates of approval for wastewater discharges and water taking permits should be required to be consistent with source protection plans. This would integrate land use planning and water management in Ontario and foster a new kind of relationship between provincial and local decision making. The ensuing discussion of some of the problems this might pose (for example, questions of vertical primacy between provincial and municipal plans and policies, or of horizontal primacy between the requirements of different government departments at the provincial level) have a familiar ring to land use planners and lawyers, and one anticipates that their experience will facilitate the development of a decentralized water planning system. The current Trudeau-led Liberal government aims to restore funds to improve water quality and quantity and are directing funds towards
Mexico’s water supply has been dwindling since the 1980s, when Mexico’s population more than doubled. The current problem is that the water provided to the Mexican public is not clean, as 70% of Mexico’s water bodies are contaminated. The general population is forced to try and make do with the water that they are provided with or find a private supplier who might supply cleaner water at a much higher price. The government has gone on to propose that water distribution be moved to the private sector, since the reforms needed to fix the water infrastructure would be too much for the central government. This would potentially allow for cleaner and cheaper water that what is currently provided by the Mexican government. This reform has been attempted in countries across the world, with little prevail.
What we gained from this research was not a thorough understanding of the legislative measures that governments are taking to provide water to the citizens within their borders. Rather, we learned the general lesson that governments, regardless of their resources or political structure, are not the most reliable or capable entities to provide for human beings
The article “Water Works”, published by Orion Magazine and written by environmental specialist Cynthia Barnett intends to inform the reader anyone can make water an important factor. Overlooking it has become common many people in the United States have adapted to through the changes that have occurred in society over time. At the beginning of her article, she describes an area that does not make water care a priority, whereas in another location they make it very evident water is important. The location she describes is gloomy, grey, and is a populated area that has old water systems that are damaging environmental factors. Barnett continuously emphasizes that people are the ones who can help restore nature. This is at a less cost than
The goal of this paper is intended to provide the legal, political, social, economic, ecological dimensions of water resource policy
In the his brief but effectual article “The Wrong Way to Think about California Water”, the author Michael Hiltzik presents to the reader “a guide to the wrong ways to think about California water, and the glimmer of a better way”(Hiltzik). In the short piece, Hiltzik argues that the current debate on how California should be spending its meager allowance of water during the current drought is being thoroughly misguided. Hiltzik writes that people should stop criticizing businesses that consume “large” amounts of water, rather, the water already being used should be utilized more efficiently and effectively. “The only lasting solutions include creating a better-functioning water market with transparent pricing and transfers, so that water
Water is just more than drinking water. Water is the most basic and vital resource that humans need to sustain themselves. Water is used for food production from irrigating crops to actually manufacturing them. Canada like the world, uses water for sanitation, cleaning, manufacturing and daily function. Demand and supply will soon be at a crossroad, as increasing population creates increases in pollution, waste-water and global warming (Baker, 2007). This paper will seek to examine the effects of global warming on Canada’s freshwater system, the effects of pollution and will evaluate how Canada manages its freshwater now and what Canada can do to form policies that will adapt to the future crisis in Canada’s freshwater.
Over the years, conflict has emerged over whether the water that is distributed to the state of California should be equally provided to every part of the state, regardless of where the water has come from. People have argued that California has small water systems that they polluted by industrial uses, which makes them less efficient. People have also claimed that the state’s water systems are located in low income communities which makes it hard to gather funds for improvement. However, the distribution of water to all parts of California has many positive aspects to it. Many regions of the state have water restrictions and limited uses of water, which makes makes it more difficult for these regions. People have argued that the provision
I matched this article to the level of the person and issue of jurisdiction and the issue. Cam Guthrie the mayor of Guelph, and he takes care of municipal affairs. The issue in this article also falls in the municipal issue of jurisdiction, the issue being the water resource and the aquifer Nestle is pumping water from.
any repercussions, more so with the fact that 68.9% of that 1% is frozen in the
When groundwater overdraft was experienced, private pumpers would “acquire rights against one another by the continued act of pumping, without regard to seniority or the location of use.” (prfane). However, this doctrine raised several questions and problems. It was not until the case of City of Los Angeles vs. City of San Fernando, that the doctrine of mutual prescription was limited. This case defined overdraft as “the condition when withdrawals exceed both safe yield and temporary surplus,” but more importantly, it declared that equitable appointment was more important than mutual prescription. In other words, all water rights “must be subject to reasonable conditions and priorities” (prfane).
The industrialization of Canada is severely affecting the nations lakes, streams, and rivers. If something is not done to improve the situation it is going to have some severe environmental problems in its future. The following essay will be looking at the factors that cause pollution, and the effect that pollution has on the environment of Canada. It will also explore some of the methods used to treat and clean-up wastewater, and oil spills.
Economic relations and resource management, 2. Ideology and culture including the way people think about the environment and water rights, 3.political agents like the state, transnational actors and organizations involved in water disputes and trade 4.the transnational social movements which endorse and resist water privatization, and 5.the power relations which engender unequal access to safe water (Bywater, 2008).
Life springs up around water sources. It is no coincidence that some of the greatest civilizations have been build need fertile bodies of water. Known life relies on water to sustain that life. So it is no surprise when a debate arose in 2013 around comments made by Nestlé Chairman Peter Brabeck regarding privatization of water and the fundamental human right to survive from dehydration and illness from non-portal water consumption. Although the context of Brabeck’s comment was taken out of context, issues surrounding the access companies like Nestlé have been given to bottle their water when people do not have access to clean water and droughts are threatening crop production. Adding a price tag is not the answer. The market, both these companies and their consumers have a major role to play in the management of water; a role that requires a change in mindset of privilege many citizen of the United States, and other countries that do not see the direct effects that serious clean water issue have on people that do not have it.
Water is a human right, not a commodity. It is the essence of life, sustaining every living being on the planet. Without it we would have no plants, no animals, no people. However, while water consumption doubles every twenty years our water sources are being depleted, polluted and exploited by multinational corporations. Water privatization has been promoted by corporations and international lending institutions as the solution to the global water crises but the only one’s who benefit from water privatization are investors and international banks. The essential dilemma of privatization is that the profit interests of private water utilities ultimately jeopardizes the safeguarding of the human right to water. Access to clean, sufficient
It is an essential resource for sustaining life as well as central to agriculture and rural development, and is intrinsically linked to global challenges of food insecurity and poverty, climate change adaptation and mitigation, as well as degradation and depletion of natural resources that affect the livelihoods of millions of people across the world. According to the World Bank, (2010) report, water is a scarce resource with multiple interwoven uses that range from drinking water, energy, irrigation, manufacturing things, transport of people and goods among others. The report further states that, more than one-sixth of the Worlds’ population does not have access to safe drinking water, with 80% living in rural areas thus access to water cannot not be guaranteed globally.