Quote:
Originally posted by spunky1
Bla bla bla...You can't have Canadas water either 
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Oh yeah? Wait till NAFTA lawyers get ahold of it//
all your water belongs to US//
Selling Canada's water
Martin O'Malley and John Bowman
Canada lucked out in the global water sweeps. We are near the top of water-rich nations, trailing only Brazil, Russia and China.
Thanks to the replenishing cycle of rain and evaporation, the amount of water on Earth has remained the same over the past four billion years. Only in this generation has there been concern that we may be ruining our water supply. Of all the water on our planet, 97.5 per cent is sea water and three-quarters of the remaining 2.5 per cent is locked in polar ice caps. The tiny bit left over is drinkable.
Estimates of Canada's supply of fresh water vary from 5.6 per cent to nine per cent to 20 per cent of the world's supply, depending on how one defines "fresh water" ? whether it means "available," "usable," or merely "existing." One study says Canada has 20 per cent of the world's fresh water ? ranking it at the top ? but only nine per cent of "renewable" fresh water.
Whatever, Canadians consume 350 litres of water a day per capita, second only to the Americans as the most profligate wasters of water in the world. The average global citizen needs only between 20 and 40 litres of water a day for drinking and sanitation.
It has been said that water will be "the oil of the 21st century," or "liquid gold," and that it will cause wars between nations. Whatever happens with regard to global water, and the environmental, economic and political fallout, Canada will be a major player. Talks have intensified during the past few years on whether Canada should take advantage of its bountiful supply of water by selling it for profit ? like gas, oil and timber.
The House of Commons intends to hold televised hearings starting in September 2001 on "freshwater security" to examine the pros and cons of selling Canada's water to other countries. Canada sells bottled water to other countries, but shipments of bulk water are not allowed.
There is also the issue of whether, under the terms of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), water is a "vital resource" like the air we breathe, or a "commodity" to be sold and traded.
There is a sharp divide on what to do about Canada?s water.