Translation of "Group Experts on Water Resources " (English → French) :

As Dr. Brian Branfireun, a biology professor at the University of Western Ontario and expert in water resources has noted, " the vast majority of people on this earth elsewhere in the world think about water availability every single day . we are spoiled" here in Canada.

(Return tabled) Question No. 890 Mr. François Choquette: With regard to the study underway by Environment Canada and the study by the Council of Canadian Economies entitled “Harnessing Science and Technology to Understand the Environmental Impacts of Shale Gas Extraction”: (a) what are the mandates for these studies; (b) what are the deadlines for these studies; (c) will these studies be made public and, if so, what process will be followed to make them public; (d) will the two studies include public consultations and, if so, (i) with what groups, (ii) where, (iii) when; (e) will the two studies include case studies and, if so, (i) w ...[+++]hat cases will be studied, (ii) will the case studies include affected sites; (f) will the studies consider the role of the federal government under (i) the Indian Act, (ii) the Fisheries Act, (iii) the Navigable Waters Protection Act, (iv) the Migratory Birds Convention Act, (v) the Species at Risk Act, (vi) the Canada National Parks Act, (vii) the Canada National Marine Conservation Areas Act, (viii) the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999; (g) will the studies consider the link between the national conservation plan and shale gas; (h) will the studies examine the impact of shale gas extraction on the greenhouse gas emission targets for 2020; (i) who will receive the results of the study; (j) what parties will be consulted, including (i) groups, (ii) departments, (iii) organizations, (iv) scientists, (v) regions, (vi) associations, (vii) cities, (viii) municipalities, (ix) provinces and territories; (k) will the emissions from the following sources be studied, (i) industrial furnaces, (ii) home furnaces, (iii) stored liquids, (iv) wellhead leaks, (v) ground leaks, (vi) connection equipment; (l) will the studies include (i) direct, (ii) indirect, (iii) cumulative shale gas emissions in their greenhouse gas emissions calculations; (m) which shale gas wells will be studied; (n) will the following incidents related to ...

(Return tabled) Question No. 826 Ms. Olivia Chow: With regard to government resources allocated to research into sideguards on trucks: (a) listed annually for fiscal years 2006 to 2012, what are the resources allocated for researching, collecting, analyzing and evaluating data, broken down by (i) hours allocated, (ii) expenditures, including but not limited to personnel costs, fees, and research investments; (b) what are the (i) rationale, (ii) costs, (iii) planning and exact timelines for Phase II and Phase III of the National Resea ...[+++]rch Council-conducted research work, with specific details about completion dates of the research work for each phase, draft completion dates, report approval and planned and actual publication dates; (c) what are the planned and budgeted time and resource allocation for truck-sideguard-related research work for the fiscal years 2011-2012, 2012-2013, 2013-2014, and 2014-2015, including information on the funding source(s) or, in the case of an absence of detailed planning, the rationale and decision-making process; (d) what are the planning and decision-making processes for truck-sideguard-related research and policy work in terms of (i) involved entities, including but not limited to Transport Canada, internal and external government institutions, departments, groups, sub-groups, and individuals, (ii) projected and actual timelines, (iii) involvement of external entities including consultants, experts, research organizations, lawyers, lobbyists, industry associations, companies and civic groups and individuals, broken down by name, dates of involvement, duration of involvement, nature and scope of involvement, involvement in outcomes and results; and (e) from 2006 to the present, who are the external entities involved in any part of the research or decision-making process, including consultants, experts, research organizations, lawyers, lobbyists, industry associations, companies and civic groups and other individuals, broken down b ...

With rising economic, industrial and agricultural growth and increased housing added to the utilization of our water, as well as resources for recreation, all experts warn — and I repeat, honourable senators, all experts warn, and no one in the country speaks to the contrary — that it is time for Canada to take a fuller account of its water, to take inventory of its own water that is fast becoming a diminishing or at least question ...[+++]able resource.

We also would note that when the expert panel on water was considering the issue of the adequacy of resourcing for first nation water and waste water systems and was in fact instructed by the minister not to consider the matter of funding in their terms of reference, the expert panel persisted in its report to discuss that the Government of Canada must place a priority on adequately resourcing water and waste water systems on-reser ...[+++]ve in order for adequate services to be provided.

These include the confluence of Bantu/Nilotic, Arab, Egyptian and Abyssinian cultures; the large number of wars over secession, autonomy or territorial claims (many of them related to ethnic or religious identity), control of resources and disputed borders; the regional impacts of population growth, climate change and related pressures on natural resources; the friction fuelled by competition for the water resources from the Nile; the high proportion of nomadic pastoralists, bound largely by ethno-linguistic ties rather than polit ...[+++]ical borders, who are among the most marginalised groups in the region; a culture of militarism and certain vested interests in war economies; and the neglect, underdevelopment and insecurity of border areas in the region.