Beyond The Commons

 Beyond The Commons

Aaron Wherry covers all the goings-on in and around Parliament Hill. Follow Aaron on Twitter: @aaronwherry

Categories: Beyond The Commons, Capital Read

Policy alert

by Aaron Wherry on Tuesday, April 19, 2011 12:47pm - 22 Comments

This morning in Winnipeg, the Liberals promised a national Freshwater Strategy.

The official explanation is here.

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  • BC Blue

    Iggy: "not opposed to water exports"

    • Amateur Hour

      Clearly that's the thrust of the announcement [snark ON]:

      "A Liberal government will work with the provinces, municipalities, Aboriginal leadership and other stakeholders to develop a new Canadian Freshwater Strategy. This will include an investment of $225 million in the first two years of a Liberal government in Canada’s first comprehensive federal water policy in over 20 years.

      A critical component of the Canadian Freshwater Strategy will be securing our fresh water systems through risk prevention and flood mitigation by working with provincial and territorial partners to make strategic investments in critical infrastructure to avoid skyrocketing flood recovery costs.

      The Canadian Freshwater Strategy will also address growing challenges such as drought, ground water contamination and water consumption efficiency. The objective of the Strategy will be to preserve Canada’s freshwater heritage for the generations to come. "

    • Stewart_Smith

      Are you worried he would steal the Conservative platform?

      James Lunney, the Conservative candidate for Nanaimo-Alberni, was asked what his party would do to legalize the sale of bulk water. He replied that “there are big opportunities selling water,” including bulk, and spoke of capturing a percentage of the world water market. Lunney,.

  • OriginalEmily1

    Living on the south coast of Canada as I do, I'd support anything to clean up the Great Lakes.

    • tedbetts

      Actually, they are remarkably cleaned up already. And a great deal of thanks for that goes to Mr. Brian Mulroney.

  • Cats

    Kind of disgusting to fly to Manitoba and try to capitalize on the tragedy for political gains !

    Disgusted Cats

    • Amateur Hour

      Kind of commendable to fly to a flood-ravaged area and speak to the needs and concerns of the citizens.

      • tedbetts

        I've been following the Harper campaign and I thought real leaders don't meet or mingle with ordinary Canadians.

      • http://idrinkinthemorning.com Rick Omen

        Well the thin is, he didn't really address the needs and concerns of the citizens. All he did was speak to his "Freshwater Strategy", and completely ignored the real issue in Manitoba except to say that his plan would have "something" for Manitoba.

        Do you think he's going to reward Manitobans with adequate flood protection even after they send 0 Liberal MPs to Ottawa? If the Libs were anywhere near government, Western Canada will no longer be on the map.

    • Anon

      I thought Cats don't like water.

  • WildRoseAB

    Is this in their platform – or more last minute changes to fight off the NDP surge?

  • AT1

    Brita filters for all?

    • Jan

      That's the Carson solution.

      • Patchouli

        The proper term is the Michelle/Leanne VIP solution.

  • Just Joe

    If we could somehow keep Conservatives away from our water, it would freshen up almost immediately. ;-)

  • Wascally Wabbit

    Not that this makes Harper look shining bright. His sneaky (asking media to not report on negotiations) EU Free Trade Agreement that started 1 week after last election has been seriously discussing fresh water as a negotiable / exploitable resource up for sale to bidders. Last time I looked – the water in the aquifers and lakes and rivers in Canada belonged to Canadians. Sounds to me like Harper is setting up his friends to deal in it as a commodity.

  • David_Nicholson

    Are there no politicians that are willing to link climate change to the cost of floods and droughts? Perhaps this announcement would have been better made in Fort McMurray where one of the largest watersheds in Canada is being destroyed. The amount of water being polluted in order to produce oil from the Tar Sands is enough to supply Calgary twice over.

    Unfortunately, the Freshwater Strategy provided by the Liberals does not address root causes of the floods, nor does it make any mention of the Athabasca river which is becoming increasing polluted and is responsible for cancer rates being 100X the Canadian average in Fort Chipewyan.

  • madeyoulook

    [A] Liberal government will focus on flood mitigation for flood-prone regions of Canada like those in Manitoba, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff announced today.

    Don't build so much precious stuff where it floods out every year, or build your home on tall stilts with no basement, or pay the insane insurance premiums for your own flood mitigation coverage.

  • http://stumblingabordeaux.posterous.com Pato31

    I'm happy someone is talking about cleaning up Lake Winnipeg. The inaction by provincial governments and the loads of lip service have left it in such a sickly condition. Eutrophication due to use of pesticides and herbicides on the great agricultural plains leading to nitrogen and phosphorous overloads is a massive problem. Either we limit the use of fertilizers or figure out a way to filter the water before it lands in our lakes. When you realize that there's water that flows well past Calgary into that lake, there's no wonder why it is in the condition it is. The watershed is humongous and it goes through the most intense agricultural land in the country. I hope this isn't just a vote grab that will be forgotten later on.

    • http://idrinkinthemorning.com Rick Omen

      "I hope this isn't just a vote grab that will be forgotten later on."

      Agreed. I just don't see the Liberals doing anything for the prairies if they got elected. At the very best we'll be sending 2 Liberal MPs to Ottawa, and I'm sure Iggy won't bother trying to buy any votes out here.

  • madeyoulook

    So I click on Aaron's hyperlink to the Liberal announcement. Then I click on the "Canadian Freshwater Strategy" hyperlink in the first line of the announcement page itself. And what do I get, once I skip the annoying sign-up block?

    Whoops!
    We're sorry, the page you're looking for can't be found. Try using the search or click here to return to the homepage.
    http://www.liberal.ca/newsroom/news-release/platf…

    Smooth, Libs. Real smooth.

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