Can You Swallow This? :: Environmental and Health Concerns

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Can You Swallow This?
by author Pat Bennett

Multinationals are poised to profit from the privatization of Canada’s domestic water supplies. And despite proof that privatization and deregulation have compromised human and environmental health in other countries, many Canadian provinces are seriously considering them.

Canadians are now acutely aware that powerful multinationals have their eyes focused on bulk water shipments from our lakes and rivers, but an even greater threat to this precious public resource is emerging. Our domestic water supply and wastewater systems, which are under provincial and municipal control, are also on the endangered list. Privatization and deregulation of these services are high on the wish lists of huge water companies like Suez Lyonnaise of France.

Privatization and deregulation of public resources and services don’t work because corporate interests in our resources and associated services are fueled by greed. These companies view water and wastewater systems as golden business opportunities, veritable cash cows. As greed takes over, cost-cutting measures such as subcontracts to unqualified personnel, reduced inspections and slashed staff may be implemented, along with raised rates, to the detriment of services and quality of product.

Remember Walkerton. The Ontario government thought that privatization of various water services would cut government costs, and that was its only priority. This single-mindedness resulted in tragedy. The final report from the public inquiry found the Ontario government responsible for the Walkerton tragedy because it dismantled the provincial water management system, turned the safety of the water supply over to private laboratories that tested water on the ability of the customer to pay, and placed incompetents in charge of water management. While the tragic aftereffects of this move toward corporate efficiency" remain, it would seem that no actual lessons have been learned; other provinces are poised to make the same mistake.

What if you turned on your tap–and nothing happened? Or you turned on your tap and the water was discoloured, foul-smelling or otherwise unfit to drink? What if your water rates rose to such an extent that you couldn’t afford this life-giving resource?

This has already happened in other parts of the world where privatization of water and wastewater services has been permitted. In Cochabamba, Bolivia, the huge Bechtel Corporation took over the public water system in 2000, raising rates about 50 per cent–far beyond the ability to pay for many poor families. A city-wide revolt resulted, in which a 17-year-old boy was killed and hundreds of people were injured. Bechtel left the country, returning the water supply to public hands. Now Bechtel is suing Bolivia for $25 million–a portion of the $14-billion-a-year profits the corporation hoped for, but was not permitted to gain.

Other countries serviced by private water corporations, like Argentina and Uruguay, have had many problems with their water supply and services, including an enormous increase in charges and contamination of the water itself. Communities are now pressuring their governments to cancel these contracts. Whether they will be successful remains to be seen, given that huge profits are at stake and negotiation processes are often flawed.

In various places across South Africa and in Swaziland, water companies have dreamed up a "cost recovery" mechanism to increase their enormous profits. Instead of a regular faucet that switches on and off, there is a large metal box with a slot for a plastic card and a tap below. You pay a certain amount of money to the water company, and the card is computer-coded to allow a designated amount of water to run through the tap. When the amount of water you have purchased runs out, you are cut off until you can pay again–no billing, no collecting, no face-to-face confrontations with poor and desperate people–corporate efficiency at its deadliest.

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Pat Bennett is a freelance writer living in Longworth, BC. She has a passionate interest in water and environmental issues.

Source: alive #241, November 2002

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