Former U.S. ambassador pushes new look at water exports

Paul Cellucci, who was replaced by David Wilkins after stepping down as U.S. ambassador to Canada in March 2005, is suggesting water should be included in the same category as other natural resources exported as Canadian commodities on the open market.

‘‘It wasn’t an issue when I was ambassador, but it was one that I always found puzzling that it was completely off the table,’‘ said Cellucci, reached by phone in Hudson, Mass.

He argued water is a renewable resource, as opposed to such non-renewable Canadian exports as oil, natural gas, uranium and coal, adding that the two countries will eventually be forced to confront the issue.

A citizens organization that has fought for more protectionist measures for Canada in free trade agreements warns American officials are quietly laying the groundwork for bulk exports that could deprive Canadians of their own resources.

‘‘We live next to a super power,’‘ said Maude Barlow, chairperson of the Council of Canadians. ‘‘The super power is getting mighty thirsty.’‘

At present, Canadian provinces allow water to be exported in bottles, while there is a ban on bulk exports on boundary waters that are shared with the United States. However, Barlow said Canada would lose control over the resource under the North American Free Trade Agreement, if any province or territory opens to the door to sales of bulk water exports to regions that are starting to face record droughts in the U.S.

With Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government developing a new national water strategy, Barlow stressed she wasn’t suggesting that Canada close the door to sharing its resources with countries in need.

‘‘That’s different from making another country a permanent client, especially a country like the U.S., where the water would go to Las Vegas, it wouldn’t be going to the poor in downtown Detroit,’‘ she said.

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