April 26, 2007

MEDIA RELEASE


Leaked document reveals bulk water exports to be discussed at continental integration talks


Ottawa

– The leaked document of a prominent Washington-based think tank
obtained by the Council of Canadians reveals that government officials
and business leaders from Canada, Mexico and the United States are
scheduled to discuss bulk water exports in a closed-door meeting at the
end of the month as part of a larger discussion on North American
integration.


Titled the “North American Future 2025 Project,”
the initiative being led by the U.S.-based Center for Strategic and
International Studies, the Conference Board of Canada and the Mexican
Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas calls for a series of
“closed-door meetings” on North American integration dealing with a
number of highly contentious issues including bulk water exports, a
joint security perimeter and a continental resource pact.


According to the document, a roundtable on the “Future of the North American
Environment,” is planned for Friday April 27 in Calgary, and will
discuss “water consumption, water transfers and artificial diversions
of bulk water” with the aim of achieving “joint optimum utilization of
the available water.”


"This is just the latest in a series of closed-door meetings that grant the business sector privileged access while shutting out the public,” says Maude Barlow, national
chairperson of the Council of Canadians. “The document is damning not
just because it outlines a process that lacks transparency and
accountability,” says Barlow, “but also because of what is being
discussed by governments and so-called corporate stakeholders.”


The document also reveals that “trilateral coordination of energy policy”
and the development of “North American security architecture” are being
discussed by high-level government officials from Canada, the U.S. and
Mexico.


The Council of Canadians is demanding that the
Canadian government cease all further participation in such talks on
North American integration until there is parliamentary debate and
meaningful public consultation on the issue

For more information, please contact:


Meera Karunananthan Media Officer: Tel.: (613) 233-4487, ext. 234;
Cell: (613) 795-8685; meera@canadians.org.


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