No
shortage of state control
While several of Canada's smaller rivers and streams have nearly dried
up, the Great Lakes still have water, as so most of Canada's other large
lakes. Water still flows in the major rivers, even though the water levels
may be down a few inches. Lake Superior, which is almost 800-feet deep,
is 2-feet lower than usual, which is the case for some of the other Great
Lakes. However, water is not getting to the people who need it. The scenario
is not unlike the shortages of consumer goods in the old Soviet Union,
courtesy of state control.
Like control over consumer goods in the old Soviet Union, water in Canada
is subject to strict state control, even though some token water privatization
has occurred in a few Canadian locations. Several Canadian waterways, including
a few streams, are subject to some form of state control, often in the
form of a conservation authority. The mandate of such authorities invariably
is to protect wildlife and ecosystems. No new development goes ahead without
approval from a conservation authority, or rather, no development goes
ahead if wildlife habitat is threatened or will be disrupted.
The reach of conservation authorities goes beyond rivers. Wildlife officials
have the authority in certain parts of Canada to force their way into private
homes without need of a search warrant, to inspect the contents of freezers
and refrigerators. This is to ensure the population of deer, moose and
various other types of game, waterfowl or fish. People in rural areas may
not dig ditches or trenches on their property, even if the ditch or trench
is intended as an irrigation canal or reservoir to store scarce water during
a dry season. So laying a private pipeline for the purpose of transferring
large volumes of water cannot be done without endless bureaucratic and
governmental hassles, including a long list of regulatory requirements
which bureaucrats will think up on the spur of the moment.
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« Like control over consumer goods in the old Soviet Union, water
in Canada is subject to strict state control, even though some token water
privatization has occurred in a few Canadian locations. » |
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Several Canadian cities, villages and towns have called on their citizens
to conserve water, due to looming water shortages. In Canada's capital
city, Ottawa, such a call went out since the Ottawa River is a few inches
below normal levels. However, a navigation canal called the Rideau Canal
connects Ottawa to Lake Ontario, which is presently one-tenth of one percent
below its normal depth for this time of year, that is, 2-feet in a 250-ft
deep lake. A few high volume pumps at some of the locks along the Rideau
Canal could supplement Ottawa's water supply. However, the bureaucratic
red tape which prevents this is monumental.
As most free market supporters are well aware, government control of a
resource often leads to mis-allocation and waste of the resource. The Seaway
system, which enables ships up to 600-feet long to travel between the Atlantic
coast to inland ports, was only recently privatised. It has yet to be modified,
since it wastes tremendous volumes of water to move ships through locks.
The European barge canal system uses the energy from outflowing water to
drive pumps to pump water in locks upstream, thus saving 2/3 the volume
of water per lock. Every movement of a ship through one lock on the Seaway
releases a volume of water a population of 15,000 people would use in a
day.
Some modern post-statist technology in the Seaway locks could make water
available to 10,000 people every day, each time a ship went through a single
lock on the stretch between Detroit and Montreal. However, Canadian federal
and provincial officials would still stand in the way if private water
pipelines, or even tanker trucks or trains, attempted to move water to
areas where it would be most urgently needed.
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