Canadians need to know Conservative position on bulk water exports

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PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 17, 2006

Canadians need to know Conservative position on bulk water exports

Ottawa - The Council of Canadians is concerned with recent statements made by Conservative MP James Lunney favouring bulk exports of Canadian water and is calling on Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party to clarify their position on the issue.

"I think there are big opportunities selling water, whether bulk or bottled," the MP for Nanaimo-Alberni told constituents on December 12, 2005. "If we were to capture some of the water and bottle it... I suspect the effects on the environment would not be that significant," he added. Despite widespread outrage by concerned citizens and environmental groups, the Conservative Party has remained silent on the issue of bulk water exports.

"Canadians are deeply concerned with the protection of their water," says Susan Howatt, water campaigner for the Council of Canadians. "They have a right to know the Conservatives' policy on water - especially the bulk export of fresh water - if they hope to form the next government."

"Even Environment Canada acknowledges that bulk water exports would result in a permanent loss of water in a basin and pose significant risk to the ecosystems and communities that depend on the supply of water," explains Howatt. "If the Conservative Party is planning to take such drastic measures, Canadians should be informed before January 23."

To date, the Conservatives have been vague about their commitment to protect the environment as a whole. As it stands the Conservative Party platform, released on January 13, 2006, says very little about environmental protection and proposes nothing to safeguard Canadian water against commodification. According to Howatt, "the whole issue of Canada�s growing water crisis is not addressed, and water is buried within a very thin environmental platform with no coherent strategy."

For more information, please contact:
Meera Karunananthan, Media Officer, Council of Canadians: Tel.: [phone], ext. 234; Cell: [phone]; [e-mail].

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