Jun. 30, 2010 - Issue #767: The Bestest of Edmonton 2010
Issues
Watering down legislation
Alberta is poised to create a deregulated water market
Anyone who has been paying even remote attention to public policy in Alberta over the last 20 years knows at least one thing for certain: there is no public policy issue or problem that cannot be made worse by the marketplace and deregulation. Anyone except for the government, that is.
Despite all evidence to the contrary, our government here in Alberta has continued to plough forward in its blind belief that, whatever the question might be, the correct answer is always "privatize, deregulate and trust the market."
We've seen how successful this approach has been in Alberta in areas like telephone service, natural gas and electricity. In every case, deregulating and supposedly free markets have resulted in higher (and often prohibitive) costs for Albertans, less equal distribution and a large boom for large corporate users at the expense of small business or home users.
Given that stellar track record, we should all be seriously concerned about the fact that the Alberta Government is at it again—looking to commodify and deregulate yet one more resource that Albertans rely and depend on.
In September 2008, as part of the government's Water for Life implementation strategy, Environment Minister Rob Renner announced that his government would be reviewing how Alberta allocates water to various users in the province, and would enshrine any necessary changes in legislation.
There can be no question that Alberta's current "first in time, first in right" system of water allocation is badly in need of an overhaul. Over allocations of many of the province's waterways, an oil and gas industry that is highly dependant on fresh water, and years of drought in the south of the province have all highlighted the weakness of the system in recent years, and resulted in near crises of allocation in some areas. But what does the government have in mind?
As an initial step in the review, the government commissioned reports on water allocation from three committees: the Minister's Advisory Group on Water, the Alberta Water Research Institute (AWRI) and the Alberta Water Council. The first group was composed of appointed economists and oil company execs, AWRI is a quasi-governmental group of business folk and researchers set up by the government and chaired by former Tory environment minister Lorne Taylor, and the Water Council is a partnership of members from industry, government and NGO's established by the government for the sake of monitoring the implementation of the Water for Life strategy.
Predictably, and in keeping with how the Conservatives gather expert advice, the contents of all three reports were similar. Of greatest concern is the fact that all three reports lean heavily toward the establishment of water markets for the allocation of water, and that none of the three reports makes a strong case for prioritizing water for communities and ecosystems. And in keeping with this government's one-track-mind on solutions, none of the reports provides any recommendations which are not market-based.
Aside from commissioning these three reports, however, the Alberta government has not held a single public consultation, nor have they have consulted in depth with First Nations communities on these questions. Instead, the government is writing up draft legislation, and has said that it will be consulting Albertans on the basis of that legislation over the course of the summer so that it can introduce the legislation in the fall.
Given how the legislation has been drafted, it is pretty much a certainty that it will include the creation of a water market to deal with questions of allocation, the elimination of many regulations on water use and withdrawals (which the auditor general recently said were not being enforced by the government), and a focus on higher value uses for water rather than community, ecosystem and traditional native uses.
The marketplace (ie. who has the biggest bank account) may be a great way for determining who gets things like Jaguars and BMWs, because those aren't essential to human and ecosystem survival. It seems absolutely ridiculous, however, that we would seek to distribute water in the same way.
Today, almost none of the water licensees access their full water allocation. If they are now given the ability to sell for a profit whatever they don't use, where is the incentive to conserve water? Won't consumption actually go up? And how will a small farmer fare if his access to water depends on winning a bidding war with a big multi-national oil company? How will First Nations communities who depend on rivers for everything fare when the bituminous sands operation upstream has bought up all of the allocations? Who gets the water in times of drought?
In places like Chile and Australia, water markets have helped increase the wealth of huge corporations at the expense of communities, small farmers and the environment. Water has become one more commodity that the rich can abuse and the poor cannot afford. In Alberta deregulation of gas and electricity have provided huge profits for huge corporations at the expense of small users and individual Albertans. Somehow, however, the government now seems to think that if you establish a deregulated market place for water it will increase conservation, reduce pollution and help distribute water in a fair and just manner.
The government claims it will consult with Albertans before moving forward with legislation. If we want a water allocation system based on values of fairness, justice and environmental sustainability, then it is critical that Albertans get informed on this issue and have their voices heard in these consultations. If we don't, then what we'll get is a water allocation system based on money, money and more money. Which would you do better in? V
Ricardo Acuña is the Executive Director for the Parkland Institute, a non-partisan public policy research institute housed at the University of Alberta.
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