Learning how to run governments like business has caused the bankruptcy of our democracies and the take over of our common good. And I am thinking now of Roy Romanow's commission on health care. Former Premier Roy Romanow downsized Saskatchewan to greatness and now he is preaching the gospel that "medicare is quintessentially Canadian because it embodies both social justice and fiscal prudence." On the other hand we have Walter Robinson, Federal Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, who objects to Roy Romanow's hypocritical defence of medicare and suggests that he refers to examples of better health care achieved in the United States and Europe. Behind the hypocrisy shown by both Roy Romanow and Walter Robinson is the fact that our governments have been progressively neglecting their commitment to our social well being and they have become private contractual deals.

Hypocrisy reigns supreme in our state of affairs. North Battleford city officials are wondering how to pay for the city's water infrastructure and are eying the possibility to privatize our water and sell it to US Filter Canada, a division of water giant US Filter/Vivendi .

I remember when clean water was a 'worthless' economic resource since it was abundant, but now that we have achieved a sophisticated technological and industrial economic system our water has become polluted and scarce, water has been converted to an economic good and the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is posed to increase while our health is posed to become poorer . Coca Cola has been appropriating water from Indian villagers; Chilean mining companies have been given nearly all the water rights in that country, free of charge, as they are being busy in pushing up water price. We have witnessed the enronization of energy in the United States and we are now taking the further step to enronize our water and sell it to the highest manipulating bidder in the manipulated free market.

Our Canadian economic gurus have been exalting the Free Market system of the United States, and they have been preaching for either a stronger Canadian dollar or the American dollarization of our economy. These economic gurus got what they wanted today as the Canadian dollar got stronger as Bush's America is in a crisis because of a chronic foreign deficit, budget deficit, corporate pillaging, war on terrorism, militarization of the economy, tax cuts and wealth redistribution for the rich and famous, and you name it.

Our economic gurus are telling us that our economy is in good shape, and I ask why? This is the race to the bottom, trying to achieve an economic advantage at the expense of others just like we are playing a game with our lives; game theory and the power of cheating have become the social instruments to win wealth at the expense of others, this is what our gurus call the competition of the Free Market, the competition to enronize our lives and our civility.

References

Pertinent articles published in Ensign

Memo to Commissioner Roy Romanow:A mind is like a parachute, it works best when it's open Ottawa - Sunday, June 30, 2002 - by: Walter Robinson, Federal Director, Canadian Taxpayers Federation http://www.ftlcomm.com/ensign/editorials/LTE/robinson_CTF/romanow/romanow.html

The North Battleford water inquiry, honourable Robert D. Laing Commissioner: written submission made on behalf of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, local 287, Mitchell Law Firm, Barristers and Solicitors, January 9, 2002 http://www.northbattlefordwaterinquiry.ca/pdf/finalsubmission-CUPE.pdf

U.S. firm pitches private water, by Jason Warick, July 6, 2002, The StaPhoenix, Saskatoon

US Filter Canada, a division of US Filter, a Vivendi Environnement company, a subsidiary of Vivendi Universal (NYSE: V) Corporate Fact Sheet http://www.usfilter.com/water/CorporateInfo.asp?WID=276

Vivendi dives after accounts raid Vivendi Universal's stock fell sharply early on Wednesday after its offices were raided by French stock-market regulators as part of a probe into its accounting, CNN, July 10, 2002 http://www.cnn.com/2002/BUSINESS/07/10/vivendi.probe/index.html

No Water? Drink Coke! By Nityanand Jayaraman, CorpWatch India, May 28, 2002 http://www.corpwatchindia.org/issues/PID.jsp?articleid=1603

The Public Pain Of Private Water An Excerpt From Blue Gold. Maude Barlow is the national volunteer chair of the Council of Canadians, Canada's largest public advocacy organization. http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/5903

Poll says high taxes, low population keep some U.S. investments out of Canada by Dean Beeby The Canadian Press, CBC Canada, Jul 10, 2002 http://cbc.ca/cp/business/020707/b070726.html