Canada is Negotiating Privatized Public Water Systems in E.U. trade deal

           Canada is Negotiating Privatized Public Water Systems

Early in January 2011, Federal and Provincial negotiators will be hammering out a trade deal with the European Union that could include municipal water services in cities and towns across Canada.

I wonder if our local municipalities have been consulted about this? Ask the Mayor, the Town Council, or the Regional Districts what they have heard, or said, about privatising our water services. They may not have much say in the matter, unfortunately.

As our municipal water systems degrade over time, without adequate funding to keep them in good shape, the conditions are created for private takeovers - our government will declare that there is not enough money to keep the pipes and pumps in good working order. Then they will say "we NEED private investors to do this for us". It is simply a tactic to transfer essential public services to private hands.

What this part of the proposed E.U. trade deal would mean to local residents is that we could soon be paying a separate water bill, it will no longer included in our basic "garbage, sewer, and water" bills. It is very doubtfull that the costs will go down, it is more likely they will go up and up.

Once a corporation has control of our water supplies and the infrastructure that brings it to our homes, they can charge residents whatever they want. The basic ideals of capitalism will apply - "if we don't like it we can go elsewhere" ... except there won't be anywhere else to go, there will be no competition, because there is only one water system in each town or city.

The bottom line is that it would cost us less to have government keep up one water supply infrastructure maintenance, as compared to what we will end up paying a private corporation to do it. A small rise in taxes to fund ongoing water supply maintenance would be much less than each of us paying $50 or $100 every month to a private [corporate] water supplier.

The experience of other nations with privatised water has not been good - accountability disappears, water rates go up, workers are laid off, service levels decline. Getting water supplies back into the caring hands of our municipal government becomes next to impossible once it has been privatised.

This is all happening too fast, too quietly, and in in the very near future:

   Initial provincial-territorial offers in services, procurement and investment will be sent to the European Commission early in January 2011. This is all happening a light speed, with very little consultation with Canadians. In fact, it almost seems to be done in secret - have you heard a word about it until now? I only found out about it in an obscure "international alternative online computer media outlet". Even with the Council of Canadians, and the CUPE union, trying to get the word out to Canadians about it, the issue of privatised water is not in the newspapers or on the evening news on T.V. It is more like a "government stealth operation" than a public issue!!

Here is the online link where I found the story:
> http://axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/Article_61898.shtml
Or, go to "Axis of Logic" website and look for "Public Water for Sale: How Canada Will Privatize Our Public Water Systems" in the World News section there;

Also, see the Council of Canadians website for more information
> http://www.canadians.org/water/

Full PDF report here:
> http://canadians.org/trade/documents/CETA/water-report-1210.pdf