Water has been a controversial issue on the trade front for a long time, going back to the FTA and the NAFTA. Bulk water exports have not been protected adequately. There is no legislation that would do that. Once the tap is turned on, it would become a commercial good and therefore open for export.
We know from chapter 11 of NAFTA, the investor-state provisions of NAFTA, that companies in the United States have challenged any provincial measures to limit water exports. There are cases that are ongoing in that respect.
It has remained an important issue for the United States, and I think this latest initiative with the Center for Strategic and International Studies is an example of that. They see it as in their national security interests to gain access to Canadian water, as to Canadian oil. This think tank with close connections...it was commissioned. From what I've been told, it is funded largely by the National Security Council in Washington. They're our partners. The Conference Board of Canada is a partner. But it emanated in an informal way out of the last SPP meeting and it's one of the issues that's on the table for discussion. I know it makes Canadian politicians and the Canadian public extremely nervous, but it is definitely something they're pushing for.
The trinational business report in 2005 and this latest NACC report do not mention water, although in the preliminary report, or at least in the minutes from some of their earlier meetings, they discussed water and decided it was too controversial to put it formally on the table. But that's not to suggest that it's going to go away. It keeps getting repeated. It keeps reappearing on the agenda.