Mr. Speaker, on February 12 I asked a question of the Conservative government during the daily question period about the ongoing vulnerability of Canada's fresh water to the threat of bulk export, principally to the United States.
I know that is an issue that is of concern to you, Mr. Speaker. You even had a private member's bill, I believe, on the subject at one point.
In his answer, the Minister of International Trade persisted with the government's efforts to mislead Canadians on the issue, in my opinion. He has since been joined by the environment minister in asserting that there are ironclad protections against the possibility of Canadian bulk water exports.
Both ministers are failing to acknowledge the real issues that underlie Canada's freshwater security and the uncertainty that continues to surround our ability to ban trade in this vital resource.
While the threat of bulk water shipments to the United States is not imminent, it will surely grow with time. The possibility of water exports beyond trade in bottled water could arise more quickly than we think, especially if we consider that other environmental issues have surfaced suddenly to catch governments off guard. I am thinking of course of the current global food crisis.
The government's efforts to downplay the uncertainty that continues to swirl around Canada's power to prevent future water exports will not be judged kindly by historians. What is more, both the present Conservative government and the Mulroney government before it have turned a blind eye to threats to Canada's freshwater sovereignty. The government is misleading Canadians on three counts.
First, the government contends that just saying no to bulk water exports makes the threat go away. It is as though the government believes that cabinet ministers' bold words alone will de facto permanently close the door to such exports, that somehow repeated statements in the press by the ministers of trade and environment that Canada's water is not for sale amount to a long term legal protection of this resource, and that somehow the government is the first one to tackle the matter square on, to get the job done as it likes to say.
It is important to bear in mind that the statements that the government is making are really intended for public consumption in Canada. What the government should do is make bold statements to the American government. I understand that might upset some diplomats at the Canadian embassy in Washington, but even former Conservative premier Peter Lougheed of Alberta has said quite categorically that we should be making strong statements to the Americans themselves. As a matter of fact, at a speech to the Calgary branch of the Canadian Club in 2005, the former premier said:
We should not export our fresh water--we need it and we should conserve it. And we should communicate to the United States very quickly how firm we are about it.
What is interesting is that even if we communicate our opposition to bulk water exports to the United States government, and assuming the United States government accepts this position on Canada's part, this would really be of little consequence because the threat to our water does not come the government of the United States per se. It comes from private interests that would seek to use provisions of NAFTA, especially chapter 11, to secure the right to our water. That is where the danger really comes from.
I think it is really misleading of the government to suggest this, and here is where the government is misleading Canadians a second time. It is implying that there is tough federal blanket legislation across Canada that prevents bulk water exports and that there are serious offences to anyone who would contravene that law when this is not the case. There is federal legislation, but--