Harper Government effectively privatizes Canada's water - News & Events - Sack Goldblatt Mitchell LLP
SGM's Steven Shrybman recently told the the Standing Committee on International Trade that the Harper Government appears to have entered into a NAFTA settlement that will allow foreign investors to assert propriety claims to Canadian water.
In December 2008, AbitibiBowater announced the permanent closure of its Grand Falls-Windsor pulp and paper mill in Newfoundland. The Province claimed that AbitibiBowater had reneged on agreements to continue operating the mill, and that it had been granted water and timber rights on that condition. The Province then passed legislation expropriating AbitibiBowater's assets and terminating the water and timber licenses.
Rather than seeking recourse in the Canadian courts, AbitibiBowater filed an arbitration claim under NAFTA investment rules seeking $500 million in compensation. The claim not only sought compensation for the physical assets taken by the Province, but also for the loss of its water and forest licenses, which it referred to as "Water and Waterpower Rights" and "Timber Rights".
Instead of standing up for the public ownership of water and timber resources and refuting AbitibiBowater's claims to proprietary “rights” in Canadian public goods, the Harper Government entered into a $130 million consent judgment to settle the NAFTA claim. The potential consequences for the protection and regulation of Canada’s public resources are dire: the settlement goes farther than any NAFTA judgement to date, recognizing AbitibiBowater's “rights” to Newfoundland’s water and timber. This sets a precedent in which the obligation of governments to treat water as a public trust essential to both human well-being and biodiversity rank second to commercial and private interests.
Showing posts with label Water management. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Water management. Show all posts
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Thursday, December 30, 2010
About ICO2N | ICO2N
About ICO2N | ICO2N
ICO2N is the Integrated CO2 Network, a group of Canadian companies representing multiple industries, including coal and the oil sands. All ICO2N member companies have a strong interest in and a commitment to develop Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) in Canada.
For five years the group has been working to accelerate CCS deployment as a means of reducing CO2 emissions, and fundamentally transforming the way Canada can develop and use its fossil fuel energy resources in a sustainable way.
ICO2N has completed extensive technical, economic and policy analysis on CCS, and developed its own unique economic model of large-scale CCS in Canada.
ICO2N works with multiple levels of governments, industry partners, academia and environmental organizations to advance CCS as a tool to ensure a clean and secure energy future, and is an advocate for the development of integrated CCS infrastructure.
ICO2N is the Integrated CO2 Network, a group of Canadian companies representing multiple industries, including coal and the oil sands. All ICO2N member companies have a strong interest in and a commitment to develop Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) in Canada.
For five years the group has been working to accelerate CCS deployment as a means of reducing CO2 emissions, and fundamentally transforming the way Canada can develop and use its fossil fuel energy resources in a sustainable way.
ICO2N has completed extensive technical, economic and policy analysis on CCS, and developed its own unique economic model of large-scale CCS in Canada.
ICO2N works with multiple levels of governments, industry partners, academia and environmental organizations to advance CCS as a tool to ensure a clean and secure energy future, and is an advocate for the development of integrated CCS infrastructure.
BITs ,NAFTA, ECT
There are currently about 2,600 bilateral investment treaties (BIT's)in force,(see
last checked 26 November 2010.
plus a number of multilateral treaties that include investment chapters such as NAFTA or the Energy Chater Treaty (ECT)(1994)- all of which resort under the common denominator "International Investment Agreements"(IIAs)
last checked 26 November 2010.
plus a number of multilateral treaties that include investment chapters such as NAFTA or the Energy Chater Treaty (ECT)(1994)- all of which resort under the common denominator "International Investment Agreements"(IIAs)
Legal Aspects of Sustainable Water Management
Legal Aspects of Sustainable Water Management
CISDL Legal Research Fellow Anna Russell co-authored a legal working paper on access to water and integrated water resource management, forming the basis for a very well-subscribed course for delegates to the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development in 2005, New York, and Panel Event. UN Water has invited the CISDL to develop a ‘Guidance Note’ for countries seeking to draft and implement new laws on water management, and there is potential for a collaborative seminar and special issue on these questions with the Revue quebecoise de droit international. In 2006-2007, the CISDL developed a working paper for CIDA on Canada’s legal obligations in the area of international policy on water. This working paper led to the recommendation to organize a workshop to further investigate several key issues, such as obligations to act in accordance with regional agreements on water when conducting development work in developing countries, and international customary principles related to water, and a proposal is being submitted to CIDA to carry out this work.
CISDL Legal Research Fellow Anna Russell co-authored a legal working paper on access to water and integrated water resource management, forming the basis for a very well-subscribed course for delegates to the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development in 2005, New York, and Panel Event. UN Water has invited the CISDL to develop a ‘Guidance Note’ for countries seeking to draft and implement new laws on water management, and there is potential for a collaborative seminar and special issue on these questions with the Revue quebecoise de droit international. In 2006-2007, the CISDL developed a working paper for CIDA on Canada’s legal obligations in the area of international policy on water. This working paper led to the recommendation to organize a workshop to further investigate several key issues, such as obligations to act in accordance with regional agreements on water when conducting development work in developing countries, and international customary principles related to water, and a proposal is being submitted to CIDA to carry out this work.
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