AFB2018 Alternative Federal Budget 2018 - The Council of Canadians

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AFB2018

Alternative Federal
Budget 2018
Water
                          ALTERNATIVE
                          FEDERAL BUDGET                  WATER
                          2018

            ¢ There were 167 drinking water advisories in First                 ¢ Adequately fund water and wastewater
SITUATION

                                                                  DESTINATION
            Nations in 2017.                                                    infrastructure in municipalities and First Nations.
            ¢ 99% of lakes and rivers in Canada are still not                   ¢ Fund robust environmental assessments and
            protected by the Navigation Protection Act.                         strong water science and research.
            ¢ The proposed Kinder Morgan pipeline alone puts                    ¢ Safeguard the Great Lakes, groundwater and
            1,355 waterways at risk.                                            other freshwater sources.
            ¢ 197 billion litres of raw sewage was flushed into                 ¢ Exclude water as a tradeable good, service or
            waterways in Canada in 2016.                                        investment in Canada’s trade and investment
            ¢ Canada’s trade and investment agreements do not                   agreements.
            adequately protect water policy from costly
            investor-state disputes.

   POLICYALTERNATIVES.CA/AFB2018                                                                                           #AFB2018

                Background                                           action, ensure affordable water services for
                                                                     everyone, and create accountability mech-
                Canada needs to put water protection and
                                                                     anisms and legal remedies.
                water justice at the heart of all policies and
                                                                                The Canadian government recognized
                practices affecting water sources and servi-
                                                                     the human rights to water and sanitation
                ces. The government could take a step in that
                                                                     at the 2012 UN Conference on Sustainable
                direction by recognizing water as a human
                                                                     Development, but it has yet to take action
                right, a shared commons and a public trust.
                                                                     to make these rights meaningful. The fail-
                    Beginning in 2010, the United Nations
                                                                     ure of the Trudeau government to take these
                passed several resolutions recognizing the
                                                                     rights seriously, as the Liberals promised
                human rights to water and sanitation. These
                                                                     in the 2015 election campaign, will impact
                intentions were asserted again in the 2015
                                                                     the availability and access to clean water
                Sustainable Development Goals. The UN
                                                                     for generations to come.
                Human Rights Council has called on gov-
                ernments to develop comprehensive plans
                and strategies for water management, as-
                sess the implementation of these plans of

     142        Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
Drinking water in Indigenous                     assets is $575 billion, according to the same
communities                                      report. The Federation of Canadian Munici-
                                                 palities (FCM) estimates the cost of replacing
Prime Minister Trudeau promised during the
                                                 systems graded “poor” or “very poor” to be
2015 election campaign to end boil water ad-
                                                 about $61 billion.4
visories in First Nations within five years of
                                                    The Liberal government committed $2
forming a Liberal government. There were
                                                 billion over four years to a new Clean Water
167 drinking water advisories in 98 First
                                                 and Wastewater Fund. However, there are
Nations in fall 2017,1 and there are routine-
                                                 concerns this money will lead to the priva-
ly more than 100 water advisories in effect
                                                 tization of public water assets in the same
at any given time, with some communities
                                                 way the new Canada Infrastructure Bank
having lived under advisories for nearly
                                                 will prioritize funding for income-gener-
20 years.2
                                                 ating projects (e.g., public-private partner-
   A 2017 report by the David Suzuki Foun-
                                                 ships). Canada needs a long-term plan to
dation and the Council of Canadians found
                                                 adequately fund public or community-run
that the federal government will not meet
                                                 water and wastewater infrastructure that is
its commitment to end all drinking water
                                                 more accountable and cost-effective than
advisories without increasing funding and
                                                 the private alternatives.
making significant changes to current pro-
                                                    Over 197 billion litres of raw sewage was
cesses. In 2011, a government study estimat-
                                                 flushed into waterways in Canada in 2016.5
ed that $889 million is needed annually for
                                                 The federal government has introduced
First Nations water and wastewater facili-
                                                 stricter wastewater standards, but again
ties, which includes projected operating and
                                                 these did not come with adequate funds for
maintenance costs. In 2017, the Parliament-
                                                 municipalities. The FCM calculates that the
ary Budget Officer reported that the Trudeau
                                                 regulations will cost at least $20 billion for
government allocated, at most, 70% of the
                                                 plant upgrades alone. The federal govern-
funding needed to end water advisories.
                                                 ment should be working with provincial
                                                 governments to harmonize reporting re-
Public water and wastewater                      quirements, with the goal of reducing the
infrastructure                                   cost of administering regulations.

According to the 2016 Canadian Infrastruc-
ture Report Card, one third of Canada’s mu-      Water protection legislation
nicipal infrastructure is at risk of rapid de-
                                                 During the 2015 election campaign, the
terioration, 36% of wastewater infrastructure
                                                 Liberal Party committed to restoring and
is rated at fair to poor condition and 29%
                                                 improving water protections gutted by the
of drinking water infrastructure is in fair to
                                                 former Conservative government from the
very poor condition.3 The total replacement
                                                 Canadian Environmental Assessment Act,
value of water, wastewater and stormwater
                                                 the Fisheries Act and the Navigation Pro-

                                             Getting There: Alternative Federal Budget 2018       143
tection Act (NPA). Between 2016 and 2017,       the cancellation of several liquefied fracked
      these laws were reviewed by parliament-         gas (LFG) plants, including Petronas’ Pacif-
      ary standing committees and expert pan-         ic Northwest facility, there are still propos-
      els, which also gathered public input. The      als to build LFG plants and run supertank-
      government is expected to table its proposed    ers along B.C.’s coast.
      regulatory amendments by spring 2018, but          The Kinder Morgan pipeline would
      they will likely leave 99% of lakes and riv-    cross 1,355 waterways, and Line 3 runs from
      ers unprotected under the NPA.                  Hardisty, Alberta to the shores of Lake Su-
                                                      perior in the Great Lakes Basin. The Lib-
                                                      eral government approved both pipelines
      Impacts of extreme energy projects
                                                      without Transport Canada assessing their
      Creating one million climate jobs and en-       impacts on navigable waterways, since the
      suring a just transition for workers cur-       current NPA exempts pipelines. These pipe-
      rently employed in the extractive sectors       lines would transport tar sands bitumen or
      would not only protect waterways but also       fracked oil, exacerbating climate change and
      grow Canada’s economy in sustainable ways       putting water, food and public health at risk.
      for future generations (see Just Transition        Despite promising to protect freshwater
      chapter). Instead, this government plans to     and oceans, the Liberal government has ap-
      pursue many extreme energy projects and         proved other extreme energy projects like the
      environmentally destructive policies fa-        Site C dam and the NOVA fracked gas pipe-
      voured by the Harper government.                line (owned by TransCanada), signalling lit-
         Extreme energy projects require more         tle change from the previous government’s
      water, energy and effort to realize, and are    extractivist policies. In December 2017, the
      more destructive to watersheds, the environ-    B.C. government approved the Site C dam
      ment and surrounding communities than           proposal despite the impact it will have on
      conventional energy development. The ex-
                                          6
                                                      the Peace River Valley, Indigenous rights
      traction of extreme energy, such as fracked     and farmland.
      gas and tar sands oil, and their transporta-       There is a significant lack of independ-
      tion via pipeline, rail and ships, leaves mu-   ent scientific data on the consequences of
      nicipalities and Indigenous communities         diluted bitumen spills in water, including
      vulnerable to potentially high clean-up and     how the oil reacts in waterways and the
      health care costs.                              challenges involved in cleaning it up. The
         For fracking, these costs include drink-     government’s moratorium on tankers on
      ing water contamination, poor air quality,      the northern coast of B.C must include LFG
      earthquakes, health risks and increased         tankers to protect communities and marine
      greenhouse gas emissions. Atlantic prov-        ecosystems.
      inces have placed moratoria on fracking,
      but governments in Western Canada con-
      tinue to endorse the risky practice. Despite

144   Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
Water withdrawals                                 ing investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS)
and trade agreements                              provisions in deals like NAFTA or Canada’s
                                                  foreign investment protection agreements
It is a myth that Canada has near infinite
                                                  (FIPAs) would make it much harder for for-
supplies of freshwater. Droughts, climate
                                                  eign corporations to use trade treaties to
change and over-extraction continue to im-
                                                  sue governments for laws or policies that
pact what are actually limited water sources.
                                                  protect water.
Each year, Canada exports 59.9 Bm3 of vir-
                                                     For example, Lone Pine Resources is
tual water (the amount of water used to pro-
                                                  suing Canada for US$119 million under the
duce or process a good or a service). Can-
                                                  investor-state dispute process in NAFTA in
ada is the second highest net virtual water
                                                  response to Quebec’s moratorium on frac-
exporter in the world.8
                                                  king in the St. Lawrence River — a decision
    Bottled water companies such as Nestlé
                                                  made, in part, to protect water. In 2011, Can-
directly withdraw from freshwater supplies,
                                                  ada settled another NAFTA dispute from Abi-
including groundwater aquifers, which are
                                                  tibiBowater (now Resolute Forest Products)
the main drinking water source for one-third
                                                  in which the company a claimed proprietary
of Canadian communities. A 2015 study
                                                  right to the water used at its former paper
published in Nature Geoscience found that
                                                  mill in Newfoundland and Labrador — a right
only 6% of groundwater around the world
                                                  that does not exist under the law.
is renewable.9 Droughts and flooding have
                                                     By excluding water from trade agree-
financial impacts on farmers and local in-
                                                  ments, and eliminating this lopsided in-
dustries and provide strong incentive to pro-
                                                  vestment protection system (see the Inter-
tect local watersheds.
                                                  national Trade and Investment chapter),
    Water is defined as a “tradeable good,”
                                                  the government could avert threats to water
“service” and “investment” in trade agree-
                                                  sources in Canada and avoid costly trade
ments. As such, trade agreements can dra-
                                                  challenges. The government must also pro-
matically limit a government’s ability to pro-
                                                  tect the rights of municipalities, provinces
hibit or regulate the transfer or sale of water
                                                  and territories to regulate water takings and
across borders. The federal government
                                                  create new public monopolies for the deliv-
must ban all bulk water and bottled water
                                                  ery of water services and sanitation, with-
exports, as these projects are tremendously
                                                  out having to worry about trade and invest-
costly, require vast amounts of energy and
                                                  ment challenges.10
pose serious threats to watersheds.
    Removing water as a “service” would
help protect water as an essential public
good. When services are provided by pri-
vate corporations, these provisions limit the
involvement of the public sector. Remov-
ing water as an “investment” and exclud-

                                              Getting There: Alternative Federal Budget 2018       145
AFB Actions                                       Action: Ensure the safety and sustainabil-
                                                        ity of freshwater in Canada.
      Action: Strengthen public and community
      water and wastewater infrastructure.              • Implement a comprehensive action plan
                                                          to protect the Great Lakes (cost: $500
      • Strengthen the Clean Water and Waste-
                                                          million in year one and $950 million a
       water Fund with a requirement that it be
                                                          year in each of the following four years).
       used to improve public or community-
       run water and wastewater infrastructure          • Establish water quality and quantity
       (cost: $6.5 billion a year for six years, $2.5     monitoring frameworks; increase the
       billion a year in year seven and beyond).          number of monitoring stations, train
                                                          staff in water monitoring, and create a
      • Implement the Wastewater Systems Ef-
                                                          new water ministry to co-ordinate the
       fluent Regulation (cost: $1 billion a year
                                                          more than 20 departments that set fed-
       over 12 years).
                                                          eral policies affecting water (cost: $327.5
      • Commit $100 million annually for water            million over three years).
       infrastructure in small municipalities.
                                                        • Commit $3 million toward a groundwater
      • Commit $75 million annually for ongoing           protection plan and $1 million to com-
       water operator training, public sector             plete a review of virtual water exports
       certification and conservation programs.           from Canada.

      Action: Support and fund environmental
      impact assessments.
                                                        Notes
      • Conduct assessments of all energy and           1 Health Canada. “Drinking Water and Wastewater.”
       mining projects in consultation with af-         Ottawa. Online at http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fniah-spnia/
                                                        promotion/public-publique/water-eau-eng.php#adv;
       fected communities, and seek the free,
                                                        First Nations Health Authority. “Drinking Water Advis-
       prior and informed consent of Indigen-           ories.” Online at http://www.fnha.ca/what-we-do/ en-
       ous communities in the process (cost:            vironmental-health.

       $50 million annually for three years).           2 Health Canada. “First Nations and Inuit Health: Drink-
                                                        ing Water and Waste Water.” Online at http://www.hc-
      • Conduct an in-depth, independent study          sc.gc.ca/fniah-spnia/promotion/publicpublique/water-
       of the effects of tar sands development          eau-eng.php#s2d.

       on the environment and health (cost: $30         3 Informing the Future: 2016 Canadian Infrastructure
                                                        Report Card. Canadian Infrastructure. http://www. can-
       million annually for two years).
                                                        adainfrastructure.ca/en/index.html.

      • Reinstate federal funding for water pro-        4 Ibid.
       grams at the departments of Environment          5 Elizabeth Thompson. “Billions of litres of raw sew-
       and Climate Change Canada, Fisheries             age, untreated waste water pouring into Canadian water-
                                                        ways,” CBC, December 12, 2016; 2016 statistic from email
       and Oceans Canada and Transport Can-
                                                        from Wastewater Program, Environment and Climate
       ada (cost: $60 million for three years).         Change Canada. November 7, 2017.

146   Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
6 Informing the Future: 2016 Canadian Infrastructure        9 Emily Chung. “Most groundwater is effectively a
Report Card.                                                nonrenewable resource, study finds.” CBC News, Nov-
                                                            ember 15, 2015.
7 Carol Linnitt. “Why is Trudeau Backtracking On B.C.’s
Oil Tanker Ban? These 86 Meetings with Enbridge Might       10 Scott Sinclair. (2015). “NAFTA Chapter 11 Investor-
Help Explain.” DeSmog Canada, October 20, 2016.             State Disputes to January 1, 2015.” Canadian Centre for
                                                            Policy Alternatives.
8 Nabeela Rahman, Maude Barlow, and Meera Karunan-
anthan. (2011). “Leaky Exports: A Portrait of the Virtual
Water Trade in Canada.” Ottawa: Council of Canadians.

                                                        Getting There: Alternative Federal Budget 2018                147
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