Water Watch – ACTION ALERT

Quoting Dr. Mary LeMaître from September 24, 2009 email:

Greetings, Water Watchers!

On Monday evening Maude Barlow spoke at the University of Winnipeg. To hear her talk on line, go to: http://ckuw.ca/24/20090923.08.24-09.05.mp3 (link no longer available)

Maude stressed the importance of continuing to show our opposition to thecity’s plan which would create a Municipal Corporate Utility and bring in a private partner. Although City Council voted 10-6 in favor of the proposal, we can still be very proud of bringing the issue to the forefront in the media, holding a rally, and getting 7,000 petition signatures in one week. To defeat the water proposal, she said, requires a sustained effort on our part. We do not want to go the way of P3s, even with clauses built into the proposal, and should do everything we can to show our opposition. We should not let our water go the way of P3s at all. Why?

i) P3s reduce transparency, take control of the utility out of the public’s hands, and weakens the government’s ability to regulate water policy.

ii)  International regulations make it very hard to get out of P3s once you are in.

iii) There is a world water shortage. It is not just abroad, but in Canada as well. In Australia and in some South American countries, the government is selling water rights to the highest bidder – usually to a corporation and not the local community. Alberta is already doing this.

*Action: *

*Before Oct. 17 :

1. Call/write your MLA and the three leadership candidates (Ashton,

Selinger, and Swan) and let them know you are opposed to the city’s plans

and that you do not want the Province to amend the Wiinipeg Act and allow

the city can proceed with its plans:

http://www.manitoba.ca/legislature/members/alphabetical.html

2. Call Steve Ashton, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs. His office is

counting the number of calls and recording whether people are for or

against. Tell them you want the Province to say no to the city’s proposal to

create a Municipal Corporate Utility and bring in a private partner.

3. Let them know that this is an election issue for you and that if they do

not support public water, that you will not vote for them.

4. Ask them to state their position on the water issue.

5. Tell them that you would like to see the Province put water policies in

place that would protect our water by recognizing the water is a sacred

gift, a public trust, a common good and a necessity of life that should be

protected.

Yours truly,

Dr. Mary LeMaître, D&P Chair, Archdiocese of Winnipeg, and Water Watch