The goal of this speech, given at the water policy roundtable during the Midwestern Legislators Conference in Toronto, was to provide an overview of Canada-U.S. water management to initiate discussion between participants. First, it describes how water management has been influenced by various trends over the past century, from resource development prior to 1965 to ecosystem management between about 1965-1990, to now being rooted in global trends such as climate change, energy price shocks and environmental health issues. Next, the speech compares water policies across the border, specifically related to management of bulk water exports, pollution control and water use. The final section discusses some of these policies as they relate to transboundary issues in the Midwestern region: Great Lakes, Lake of the Woods / Rainy River, Red River Valley Supply Project – Northwest Area Water Supply Project, Devil’s Lake and Lake Winnipeg.
This speech analyzes the Canada-U.S. relationship over four 25-year periods between 1940 and 2040. Prior to 1965, economic growth directed governance, policy and cross-border relations. Science flourished and governments developed a reasonable understanding of their resource base. Between 1965 and 1990, reliance on technology increased and utilized systems approaches to address science-policy issues. After about 1990, globalism and competitiveness agendas dominated conventional wisdom on governance. As we move into the future, Pentland asks ‘Do we have time to get rich first and get smart later’? He suggests that Canada and U.S. need to work together to develop fundamental global solutions that elevate nature above economy and move towards a green economy. Canada needs to improve its pollution policies, discourage bulk water exports and work with the IJC to cope with issues in shared watersheds.
Mr. Pentland discusses the need to rethink three influential concepts that affect
water management: sustainable development, “smart regulation” and theories about managing in an information age.
The implications of these concepts suggest that the world and Canada’s place in it are very different than they were when the 1987 Federal Water Policy was written. We need comprehensive water policy reform that recognizes that water and other natural resources are central to our very existence; policy that strengthens and integrates top-down knowledge and policies with bottom-up decisions and action; and that contributes to broader public policy reforms beyond the water sector. In the meantime, local water managers should focus on maximizing the resilience of local ecosystems.
This speech focuses on the current and potential impacts of three global crises on Canadian water institutions and policy: threats to the global financial system, global energy security and changes to the global climate. To begin, Pentland describes the history of water management in Canada and characterizes our current state as lacking national capacity. He describes how globalism and international economic systems have affected decision-making in Canada - creating challenges for management and decision-making, but also opportunities for solving our water woes. He suggests that a national water strategy may benefit from a process that accounts for broad global issues and their impacts on water, the focus on achieving energy security and recovering from the financial crisis may lead to more efficient use of resources and the energy crisis may force policy makers to recognize water-energy linkages.
In this speech, Pentland suggests the “unwritten contact” informally established between government and citizens to manage environmental issues is not working and that among other changes, Canada requires binding agreements akin to public trust laws to adequately protect its water resources. Since the 1980s, the relative roles of government and citizens have undergone a fundamental shift towards a shared responsibility for environmental stewardship essentially establishing an “unwritten contract” where governments are responsible for providing necessary capacity and information to provincial and local agencies and citizens are trusted to make responsible decisions and actions. However, the federal governments have specifically failed to live up to its end of the bargain under this regime by cutting scientific programming, not working collaboratively with provinces and systematically weakening environmental legislation. Pentland suggests the federal government is unlikely to change without the establishment of binding agreements between citizens, governments and the private sector. Among other things, we need to better define the fiduciary duties of governments to protect common resources and improve access to courts so that citizens can ensure governments are accountable for their constitutional responsibilities.
To analyze the state of federal water policy in Canada, Ralph Pentland begins by reviewing progress made since Canada’s last formal federal water policy, tabled in 1987. He compares the commitments made in the policy to today’s reality using five representative issues: drinking water, aquatic environmental quality, flooding, water exports and groundwater. Analysis suggests that little progress has been made and that our capacity to manage water challenges has significantly declined despite water issues becoming more acute across Canada. Pentland continues by reviewing the global context within which Canada must manage its water resources, further supporting the need for federal leadership in addressing current and future national water challenges. The paper concludes by outlining some objectives that a meaningful federal water strategy should include: protection of the ecological integrity of watersheds protection of water quality and increased water efficiency.
In this speech, written for the Library of Parliament Seminar Series, Mr. Pentland reviews issues around bulk water exports and large interbasin transfers. He then introduces the model act developed by the Canadian Water Issues Council through the University of Toronto Munk Centre. He explains how the principles embedded in the Act, such as a focus on river basin boundaries instead of country, can effectively prohibit the removal of water from Canada’s major watersheds, with minor and well defined exceptions, while respecting provincial jurisdiction.
This speech explores several policy areas and governance issues related to water and energy. It begins by situating the future of water and energy policy in a global and conceptual context, characterized by high levels of consumption, a reliance on science and technology to overcome resource scarcity and the accumulation of power and wealth in the hands of a few. At the same time, global supplies of water are increasingly threatened. Pentland goes on to describe 12 actions or policy shifts that NCWC may wish to advocate for organized under three headings: national vision, constraints and incentives and opportunities.
In this speech prepared for the Georgian Bay Association (GBA), Mr. Pentland describes the water level situation in Georgian Bay based on his knowledge of Great Lakes levels and related studies dating back to the 1960s. He begins by describing the origin of the Upper Great Lakes Study and results of previous research on great lakes levels. The rationale for undertaking the International Upper Great Lakes Study and factors that have impacted Georgian Bay water levels over the past 100 years are then discussed. Pentland concludes with a list of recommendations for the Georgian Bay Association to protect and enhance their interests.
