“Nothing could be further from the truth” than the suggestion that the provincial government is planning to create a water market for international corporate interests, said Andy Ridge, director of water policy for Alberta Environment.

This concern was expressed earlier this week at a Red Deer forum sponsored by Public Interest Alberta. The group’s executive-director, Bill Moore-Kilgannon, talked about a series of government-commissioned reports that looked at what a water marketing system could look like for the entire province.

Moore-Kilgannon is worried that starting a market for Alberta’s water would make it hard, under NAFTA (North America Free Trade Agreement) rules, to stop international hedge funds and other speculative interests from buying up local water licences, as has happened in Australia.

“They would have to craft the law in a very interesting way to make sure there are no conflicts with our international trade obligations,” he added.

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