Going dry

>> Canada’s water may become an
increasingly scarce resource, warns
author and activist Maude Barlow

FOR SALE? Freshwater in Lake Superior

by CHRISTOPHER HAZOU

While global warming has been grabbing headlines of late, another related yet less high-profile environmental disaster is unfolding, one that already kills millions every year.

“Dirty water is the number one cause of death in the developing world,” says author and political activist Maude Barlow. “More children die every day from dirty water than HIV/AIDS, war, accidents and malaria put together.” According to the UNICEF, more than 1.5 million children, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa, die of dirty water a year.

Longtime national chairperson of the Council of Canadians, Barlow is in Montreal this week on a tour for her latest book, Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle for the Right to Water, in which she details the “three crises” affecting freshwater stocks today: environmental degradation, commercial exploitation and unjust distribution.

According to the United Nations, water-borne diseases kill three million people a year, mostly children. Just last week, the UN Environment Programme published a report warning of a dramatic decline in freshwater stocks over the past two decades, concluding that unless serious action is taken, “environmental damage could pass unknown points of no return.” As populations and economies grow, particularly in the developing world, shortages of freshwater are expected to become even more acute, fuelling armed conflict and increasing disparities between rich and poor.

As disturbing as this Mad Max/Waterworld vision of the future is, Barlow says that many corporations would welcome such a scenario, seeing an opportunity for profit. “Last year, we put something like 200 billion litres of water in plastic bottles” worldwide, she says. “It’s another step in the process of commodifying water and letting us think that it doesn’t matter if the water coming out of the tap is clean, because what the hell difference does it make? You can always buy it—if you’re rich, of course.”

Consequently, Barlow is calling for a “Blue Covenant” based on “conservation, justice and democracy.” “Water should not be allowed to be expropriated for profit by anyone, and it should not be denied to anyone because they can’t afford it,” she says.

Although Canadians are often said to have 20 per cent of the world’s supply, the actual amount of “renewable” freshwater in Canada is about seven per cent of the world total, according to Environment Canada. But that hasn’t stopped our less aquatically endowed neighbours to the south from coveting it.

Critics like Barlow assert that, under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), water is considered a commodity, although governments, wary of the potential consequences, have been reluctant to initiate bulk export. “NAFTA can’t force you to start exporting water,” Barlow says, “but as soon as anyone does it for commercial purposes, the provisions of NAFTA kick in and you cannot place restrictions on it.”

In April, the federal government denied media reports that Canada was involved in negotiations with the U.S. and Mexico over water exports. Despite those assurances, and promises contained in the recent Throne Speech, Barlow isn’t convinced. “The Harper government has been terrible on global warming, so I’m certainly not holding my breath expecting them to be wonderful on this.”

At the international level, though, Barlow sees more encouraging signs for her covenant proposal. “It’s beginning to work its way through the UN,” she says. “My worry is that the destruction is happening so exponentially fast that we won’t catch it in time.”

Maude Barlow speaks in the Grand Salon at the Best
Western Ville-Marie Hotel (3407 Peel) on Monday,
Nov. 5, 7 p.m., Free. Info: www.canadians.org.