Exporting water not so simple
The article by Mike Fegelman in your March 26 issue has so many errors of fact that it is questionable whether it is worth taking his proposal to export water seriously.
To mention just two errors: Most of the water we use renews fully every year, as anyone who goes outside in March or April can confirm; only a small proportion in certain aquifers is nonrenewable. And privatization in Bolivia was so far from successful that it led to deadly riots that forced the government to cancel the contract. Even if there were no other objections (and there are many) the notion that Canada could make money by exporting water fails on its own grounds.
The only way to export really large amounts of water is by pipeline, and it is very hard to reach Saudi Arabia from Canada by pipeline. The only big market for our water is the United States, and, by and large, the United States is not short of water.
Only its farmers (who have exhausted all local supplies by profligate use) want a lot more water, but they have one condition: They don’t want to pay. American farmers are so accustomed to using subsidized water that they would reject out of hand any proposal to buy water at the cost of supply, much less its full value, from Canada.
David B. Brooks,
Director of Research,
Friends of the Earth Canada
Holmes says she works tirelessly on behalf of community
Business Beat columnist Colleen Dane should check herfacts.
My work on behalf of businesses of all sizes in Somerset ward and across the city is a matter of record.
As a city councillor, I sit on the boards of five business improvement areas — Bank, Somerset Village, Somerset Heights, Sparks and Preston Streets.
Here are some examples of what I am working on right now.
For Preston Street’s “Corso Italia” I am working on a streetscaping plan that will make the area much more pedestrian friendly and attractive.
Currently I am helping those businesses that need to get their applications for outdoor patios fast-tracked through a complicated city approval process.
For Somerset Heights, I am working for improvements, such as the proposed Millennium Garden.
For the Sparks Street Mall, we are making sure that future developments on the mall contribute to the vitality and economic health of the street.
Short-term parking is important to retail and service businesses on Bank Street and our other commercial streets.
I fought successfully for free parking on Saturday for downtown businesses. In the recent budget debate, I voted not to increase the on-street parking meter rate.
As an advocate for cultural industries and the tremendous spin-offs that festival funding generates for the tourism, hospitality, and services sectors, I have been one of the city’s most pro-active councillors in supporting these activities.
For the Ottawa Carleton Research Institute, Ottawa Life Sciences Centre, and the Ottawa Tourism and Convention Authority, my council colleagues and I were able to restore the budgets that support vital research, economic development and new business and research ventures.
On the residential development side, I have assisted with the creation of hundreds of new housing units downtown.
LeBreton Flats is a priority and the new residential units and businesses planned will be a major stimulus to the Preston and Somerset areas.
The recent announcement by the provincial government will mean different things to residential and commercial tax payers.
Commercial tax payers will not see a decrease in tax burden, as they did in 2003, at the expense of residential tax payers.
Similarly, residential tax payers will not see a tax increase, as they did in 2003, that benefited commercial tax payers.
For 2004, commercial tax payers will continue to benefit from the tax capping program.
If city council uses the powers now granted to it, we will be able to maintain the balance of property taxes between residential and commercial lands, and establish fairness between the categories.
Since the mid-1980s, provincial and federal governments have been decreasing or eliminating grants to cities.
That is why we are looking for new sources of funding from the other levels of government.
Within a year, we expect to have a hotel room tax that will be dedicated to promoting the city and its cultural attractions.
A “new deal” for the cities from the senior levels of government is under discussion, but this will certainly take time.
Until that can be resolved, we have approved a 2.9-per-cent increase to property taxes, the first in 10 years, which begins to compensate for inflationary cost increases during that time.
During the budget debate I listened to all sectors, and what I heard was a majority voice for keeping the services that help to make our city safe, healthy, and prosperous.
Diane Holmes,
City Councillor,
Somerset Ward