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PLEASE CONSIDER FORWARDING, either the link to this posting, or a “copy and paste”, as you see fit.
The links at the bottom are important – – the Agri-Food Canada program to increase water exports from Canada.
Brenda Leigh, Director on the Regional District Strathcona Board, created an excellent opportunity, by getting a Resolution passed.
Local people (Vancouver Island) are doing a good job on take-up of the initiative and spreading information.
It needs to go across Canada.
- Dismantle the Agri-Food Canada program that promotes and supports the expansion of Water Export from Canada
- At the provincial level, BC, the Resolution is building toward Provincial Legislation to CEASE the taking of ground water.
- Start something in your community. If the “export water for Profit” people are pushed out of one jurisdiction, they will move to an uninformed jurisdiction. It’s clear from the bit of history in
2019-01-24 Export of Water, for profit. Economic argument. “You cannot give up something that gives you income”. In a system that measures success by expansion – – every year “more”, always “growth” in sales. When the product is water??
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Brenda Leigh, Director on the Strathcona Board who authored the Resolution to stop the taking of water, wrote (in relation to the APPENDED):
I vaguely recall the VanderZalm controversy over the water licence disputes that happened between two private companies with the BC Government and some Ministers being directly involved. I was just out of high school when all that was going on.
It was very interesting to read the 2016 Court decision and realize the depth of corruption in the Socred Government and how long this push for selling off our water heritage in Canada has been ongoing and how at risk our source water might be. “Water is life,” as you say on your website.
(INSERT re next paragraph: Brenda’s point about “First in Time, First in Rights” is important. Those who see the dollars to be made will know about that Policy in the Act. And seek out the related opportunities. That was a problem in Alberta (just for example, irrigation often creates “first in time” rights), and is, of course, the reason there is an association of lawyers in the U.S. that do nothing but litigation over water rights. Brenda’s Resolution that was just passed by Strathcona is very important – – right across Canada. Jurisdictions everywhere are doing detailed mapping of groundwater. The Agri-Food Canada program needs to be knocked out of existence. Back to Brenda:)
The “Campbell River Mirror” got the story all wrong, in my opinion. They tried to portray that my Resolution was all about a particular Zoning application in Merville when, in fact, I was alerted to the BC Water Sustainability Act’s “First in Time, First in Rights” policy through my learning about the Merville problem. My resolution is about not allowing ANY commercial water bottling and/or bulk water sales to tap into our groundwater. It was not about any specific application and, in fact, I wrote to reporter Mike Choinard and told him that we at Strathcona do not have any water bottling applications received to date and that this Resolution is about the bigger issue of protection of Canadian water sources.
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APPENDED
UPDATE: Thursday, Jan 24
The Strathcona Resolution passed unanimously. It applies to all B.C., not just (the Association of ) Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities (AVICC).
NEWS REPORT: 2019-01-25 Strathcona Regional District board passes bottled water resolution for AVICC meeting
The motion will now go to AVIIC AGM April 12 – 14 in Powell River. (Up through the levels of municipal governments, hopefully culminating in a Provincial Law.)
THE RESOLUTION: (The Provincial Govt) be requested to immediately cease the licensing and extraction of groundwater for commercial water bottling and/or bulk water exports from aquifers
The wordsmithing stick-handles through the obstacles. If “surface” water is included, it may get tied up in complications over existing bottling operations and other concerns. “Groundwater” has the potential to get through to the goal-post – – a Provincial LAW.
(FYI: As I understand, when a motion goes to AVICC, it has to be applicable to the whole Province. The clause that restricted the Resolution to the Island and Coastal Communities was removed (amendment). The other amendment: as presented, the Provincial Govt was asked to immediately “curtail” licensing and extraction. Was amended to “cease” licensing . . .)
Also to know: regardless the number of Representatives from one Municipal Govt that attend AVICC, each one has a vote. 2 or 10 or 13 votes for one Council or District, doesn’t matter. That’s how it works. Which Representatives attend may be a factor in some instances.)
The hurdle now is to see that there are enough votes to get it passed by AVICC. More on the organizing around that, later.
BECAUSE it’s province-wide:
- Yes, we have to get the votes for the AVICC AGM
- BUT, simultaneously we need to quickly get Resolutions submitted to OTHER of the Regional Districts that are on the same level as AVICC. Kootenay is one, for example. I’ll find a list we can distribute. Among all of us, we’ll know people in the other districts, as well as in other member communities of AVICC, that we can approach.
- AVICC’s deadline for Resolutions for their AGM is Feb 7th. The Strathcona Resolution meets the deadline. Other Districts will have a similar, or the same deadline.
If some of the other Districts have passed a Resolution similar to AVICC (the Strathcona Resolution), there’s a greater chance there will be enough support to get it “all the way” to UBCM, the top.
With that, it should happen that it becomes LAW!
UBCM ANNUAL CONVENTION (Union of BC Municipalities)
2019 Monday to Friday, September 23 – September 27 Vancouver
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2019-01-24 Export of Water, for profit. Economic argument. “You cannot give up something that gives you income”. In a system that measures success by expansion – – every year “more”, always “growth” in sales. When the product is water??
The preceding link includes some history on the efforts to export water for profit. Canadians should know.
The link below has the information on the Agri-Food Canada program that is working to increase the amount of water exported from Canada. Most of that water comes, and will come, from B.C. China has been targeted for expansion of the market for Canadian bottled water (for profit).
Related: 2018-12-15 Submission, International Trade, re Export of Water.
The Federal Election is October 21, 2019.
/Sandra
Good for you! When you think of the water that is used on lawns, fountains, man-made lakes and canals in sub-divisions (and some of these are wide and deep enough that people with homes along them have good-sized “boats” anchored for pleasure)–how ridiculous can it get?
And the whole business of bottled “water” and “plastic bottles” is wrong! Anything for the “almighty dollar”, eh?