(OTTAWA) ) News that the federal government is setting up a parliamentary committee to study freshwater issues, headed by Liberal MP Dennis Mills, a one-time proponent of the GRAND canal scheme, means Canada is moving one step closer to losing control of its fresh water forever, says the Council of Canadians.

"The Chrétien government is setting up a scenario in which Canada's water could be exported to the highest bidder - with disastrous results for the environment and all Canadians," said Volunteer Chairperson Maude Barlow. "The choice of Dennis Mills to head the committee shows just how biased such a committee's findings are likely to be." Mills currently denies that he promotes bulk exports.

The Council has repeatedly argued that, under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), once bulk water exports begin they cannot be stopped and that U.S. corporations will have the same unrestricted claim to Canadian water that they now have to Canadian oil and gas.

Last week federal environment minister David Anderson finally admitted, "If Canada starts treating water as a commodity, or an item of trade, it will ultimately be treated as an item of trade under NAFTA." He was responding to Newfoundland Premier Roger Grimes' announcement that he favoured exporting billion of litres of water from Gisborne Lake.

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