Perhaps.

Canadian icon Maude Barlow has spent much of the last decade, however, working to draw attention to and generate action on, the issue of water: globally and not excluding Canada. I have just finished reading her first book on this, 'Blue Gold', which details the ways in which many parts of the world are in crisis and in which even the 'have' countries may be heading for disaster. Gross overuse, pollution and waste of fresh water sources, now clearly demonstrated to be finite, are one side of the problem but almost as significant is the takeover of supply by corporations - the privatization of water - on a massive scale and, of course, for profit, for those who can pay. Maude's conviction is that water is a human right, not a commodity.
The great hope, though, is that there is a growing movement to change this. I can't do better than to quote from the back cover of Blue Gold.

"Water is our most important resource; we literally can't live without it. And yet, in almost every region of the world, it is being used up faster than it can be replaced. Alarmingly, a number of transnational corporations are positioning themselves to profit from water scarcity and are taking ownership of a resource that should never be sold into private hands.
Arrayed against these Goliaths is a powerful new grassroots movement dedicated to fighting for fair access to safe water. Maude Barlow and Tony Carke are global leaders of this campaign and Blue Gold is the book that originally fired the debate. Originally published in 2002, it has become an international phenomenon, a rallying cry and keystone document in the greatest ecological and human rights struggle of our time"

BPEG has managed to bring Maude Barlow in person to the Peninsula to update us on this vital issue and I urge everyone who can possibly attend her single presentation at the Peninsula Shores District School to do so. You will not be disappointed. For details and ticket information see our Home Page, our many posters or the local press.

Today the Niagara Escarpment Commission announced that they will be postponing the Hearing to consider the Harold Sutherland Construction Ltd.'s application to expand the Keppel Quarry until September 16, 2010. The Hearing will now take place at the Best Western Beacon Harbourside Resort and Conference Center in Jordon, Ontario. The location is neaby St. Catherine's Ontario at 2703 Beacon Blvd., Jordon, Ontario.

The NEC Staff will now release their staff report and recommendations to the Commission on August 19th.

see details at this link:
http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/6000046_zj4H8#952205892_oKp7N

The staff report will be available by request on August 19th, 2010 from Jannette.westman@ontario.ca or 905-877-3566.

The public are encouraged to attend and provide comments to the Commission before their Final Decision is made. To attend you must contact Annemarie Bochenek at annemarie.bochenek@ontario.ca or call 905-877-1728 before 3:30 PM Tuesday September 14th.

“The potential impacts upon the Shouldice Wetland are still undefined…… the karst assessment in the April 8, 2009 Cowell Report … concludes that the wetland is hydraulically connected to the underlying bedrock and likely both gives water to and receives water from the bedrock.”

“If the proposed quarry proceeds and it induces drawdown impacts similar to those of the existing quarry, the cone of influence from the advancing extraction face will at some point spread beneath the Shouldice Wetland. Given current data, it is unclear when this will happen and what the water resource impacts will be. The interaction between the Shouldice Wetland and the bedrock needs to be better defined and the potential impacts of localized de-watering near and beneath the wetland needs to be more accurately forecast.”

“Given this continuing uncertainty about hydrogeologic impacts, we are not able to provide a further opinion as to the hydrologic impacts upon those surface water features in the vicinity of the proposed quarry. Based on the predicted hydrologic impacts, in our view, the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) and the Grey Sauble Conservation Authority (GSCA) will need to consider the consequences of those hydrologic impacts upon natural heritage features and fluctuations and come to some position regarding what are acceptable impacts.”

To view the full correspondence see the slides at:
http://smugmug.com/gallery/6000046_zj4H8#567867874_qF4pP

(Photos are best viewed by clicking on the large photo, then clicking through the 137 images with the ">" button. Alternate method to view photos is click the "slideshow" button, then click the "fast" button in top left of screen. You may need the free Adobe "Flash" reader to be loaded on your computer for proper viewing.)

Does the Ministry of Environment really let the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Grey Sauble Conservation Authority decide what are “acceptable impacts?”
That seems like a conflict of interest: The Ministry of Natural Resources have a mandate to develop quarries under the Aggregate Resources Act. The Grey Sauble Conservation Authority is funded by aggregate fees/taxes collected by the local governments who have already expressed public support for the quarry expansion. Are they really taking an unbiased perspective in the approval process?

The proposed expansion of the Keppel Quarry is adjacent to the Provincially Significant Wetlands that are the headwaters of the local spring fed lakes Francis, McNab and Shallow Lake. The location is also adjacent to the headwaters of the Park Head Creek and Sauble River. Many residents of both Grey and Bruce County may be impacted by the decisions to approve the Keppel Quarry Expansion. According to the MOE, the impact on these wetlands are unknown and potentially of high impact.

Surely there are better locations to locate blast extracted rock quarries. What evidence is there that the site needs to be located within the Niagara Escarpment Plan area, in a designated Greenbelt? The proposed site is also in a recognized World Biosphere Reserve and adjacent to an Area of Natural and Scientific Interest. Surely there are better locations for a quarry.

What can you do to object to the Keppel Quarry Expansion? Write to decision makers now, during the review process. Your written objection will help!

1) Dalton McGuinty, Premier of Ontario, Legislative Building, Queen's Park, Toronto ON M7A1A1
or log your comments with the Premier at web site: http://www.premier.gov.on.ca/feedback/default.asp

2) Honorable Donna Cansfield, Ministry of Natural Resources
6th floor, Room 6630, Whitney Block, 99 Wellesley Street, West,Toronto, Ontario M7A 1W3
or comment online at:
http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/en/ContactUs/index.html
select Online Feedback: Please select a Subject “Message to the Minister”

3) Dwight Duncan, Ministry of Finance, email at: Duncan.mpp@liberal.ola.org

4) Kevin Daniel Flynn, Ministry of Environment, email at: Kflynn.mpp@liberal.ola.org

5) Hon. Michael Gravelle, Northern Development and Mines,email at: Mgravelle.mpp@liberal.ola.org

6) Hon. Gerry Phillips, email at: Gphillips.mpp@liberal.ola.org

7) Hon. Leona Dombrowski , Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs,
email at: Ldombrowsky.mpp@liberal.ola.org

8) Bill Mauro, Ministry of Natural Resources
Suite 6522 6th Floor, Whitney Block, 99 Wellesley Street, W., Toronto M7A 1W3

9) Honorable John Gerretsen, Minister of the Environment, 12th floor, 135 St. Clair Avenue W., Toronto, ON, M4V 1P5
or online at: http://www.ene.gov.on.ca/forms/email-form.php?replyRequested=y

10) Write a letter of support to the Niagara Escarpment Commission (the NEC have opposed the Amendment Plan PG 167 - Quarry Expansion) Kathryn Pounder, Senior Planner, NEC, 232 Guelph Road, Georgetown, Ontario L7G4B1

Or email: Kathryn.pounder@ontario.ca

11) Write a letter to the editor of:

The Owen Sound SunTimes, 290 9th Street East, Owen Sound, Ontario, N4K 5P2
or by web: http://www.owensoundsuntimes.com/feedback1/LetterToEditor.aspx

The Wiarton Echo, Box 220, Wiarton, Ontario N0H2T0
Or by web: http://www.wiartonecho.com/feedback1/LetterToEditor.aspx

The Toronto Star, Ian Urquhart at email: oped@thestar.ca
or write to address: One Yonge Street, Toronto, Ontario M5E 1E6.

(Letters to editors must include full name, address and all phone numbers of sender (daytime, evening and cell phone. Street names and phone numbers will not be published.)

Rare species need your help. The health of our eco system is in question. Once the government approves the quarry, it will be too late.

If you haven't seen one, you should. Not only do they disturb the natural shoreline but also the rock shelves leading to them in order for the equipment to get to the proposed locations. Will there be a stop to these installations? Have problems been reported? I realize that some mechanical means are necessary for water uptake but many cottagers have (seasonally) drawn water directly from the lake for years and although they have had their time with waterlines during excessively rough water weather, for the most part, the black waterline running above the rock through guides has provided clear, clean drinking water (surprisingly free of contaminants). If anything gives during bad weather in this design it is the guide, not the rock. Do we call these wells 'progress'?

The problems of maintaining the pristine nature of this portion of the Bruce Trail is, in my own opinion, jeopardized by year round living. It is going to mean more destruction if the municipality goes ahead with running full services to the year round homes that are being built here. This will mean realigning part of the roadway and digging trenches and lines to each property.

To what degree are these new homes required to be (for the sake of another word) green-designed? I'm not sure how we got to this point! If year round habitation results in destruction of the shoreline and (please remember) this portion of the coveted Bruce Trail, perhaps there should be more stringent planning and building controls enforced to protect the natural environment. With the size of development going on along this stretch and especially with the proximity to both water and roadway, if I was a Bruce Trail hiker, I would think I had taken a wrong turn.

How did you like your last election?
Or as I call it a process of pre-selection
You think different colours on signs represent a real choice?
Man, these fools are all speaking with the same voice
Maybe that’s why turnout reached a staggering 50%
This province is rapidly becoming low rent

What we need is an ideological eradication
Before we lose what little is left of our nation,
Of this system capitalistic, materialistic, hedonistic
Not enough carrot, too much stick

Have you done the mathematics
Or do I have to draw you a schematic
4 in 20 give McGuinty a majority?!
What the hell is wrong with me?
When I think I still live in a democracy
Get this parasitic system off of me

MP3, CD, DVD, HDTV…
Ever wonder why all the distractions rhyme with free or tree or things that really matter like just BE…
At one with nature and stop living in prison of your own construction
And banish the lies of psychological occupation
Remove yourself from the process of converting the living to the dead
And stop the brands and slogans and perversity from swimming inside your head

Can you feel it yet, can you see it?
‘Cause it’s happening I guarantee it
A tide is rising working underground
To bring this system of corruption and consumption down!

Get out to your local big box, arctic fox
Can’t hear the squawk of the Great Auk or the songs of the Beothuk…What the $#@%?
I couldn’t make this stuff up
This culture just won’t stop

Condemning species and cultures to eradication, extirpation, extinction and annihilation!
Are these words too confusing? Can’t you see the connection?
Pick up a dictionary or a book and stop twiddling your thumbs flipping from station to station.
The media thinks elections are there for our entertainment
But what we have is lies, disinformation and cultural enslavement
Indoctrination followed by mass capitulation
And it happens in every “civilized” nation
Without fear of retaliation
Democracy has degraded to a sporting event and we’re just spectators
Blindly marking X’s on paper giving credibility to the next dictator

Whenever some are brave enough to truly challenge this authority
By taking to the streets demanding peace and life with dignity and equality
Remember Winnipeg, Haymarket, Seattle, Kent State or Quebec City!
They bring it down upon us like a hammer
Tear gas Rubber bullets or real ones or rendition in some foreign rat-hole slammer
What they want is complete obedience
And consumerist subservience

Gotta keep the militaristic war drums drumming
And this cancerous economy humming
Invent some foreign enemy
And keep the populace sedated with booze, pills,gadgets and pornography

Can you feel it yet, can you see it?
‘Cause it’s happening I guarantee it
A tide is rising and I know it
This system, we’ll overthrow it

Man those Romans really knew what they were doing
Before they got corrupted and fell in ruin
Keeping their populations in sedation with circuses and bread
While irrigating, expanding and quenching their empire with rivers of blood and mountains of dread

Today it’s the same we’re being kept fat and lazy
And our knowledge of history is being made intentionally hazy
Keeping us buying and shopping and filling our houses with all the products the system keeps flogging
While the people in the 3rd world are doing the real slogging
Picking your coffee and cocoa or scraping coal from a mine
and breeding kids to fill the sweatshops so you can buy a shirt for $7.99

I tell you what I know and you may not want to hear it
This system is about to meet people who no longer fear
They are full of seething rage and hatred for this immoral culture
Which treats the earth like a rotting carcass and we’re the hungry vulture

Do you have enough distractions yet?
Are you being adequately entertained?
Have your freedoms faced enough contractions yet?
Have your rights been sufficiently constrained?
How about your habits and patterns? Are they yet completely surveilled?
How about your movements and travel? Are they now somewhat curtailed?

Well you aint seen nothing yet. This system doesn’t trust you
It thinks you are a consumable cog and when you’re spent will crush you.
It won’t be truly happy until every thought you have or move you make
Is patrolled or tolled or told to you or recorded on some tape

Take back this world and rip what’s yours from their greedy hands.
A purge is needed to cleanse what contaminates this land
Throwing a spanner in the works of this death cult, picking easy targets
The globalists, polluters, the liars and the prophets of the market
Take to the streets the damage we must inflict it.
The current ideology, we must contradict it
We must act in secret taking actions with autonomy
With deception, and disguises sabotaging the economy
Blowing up gasoline tankers under concrete overpasses,
Toppling towers of communication causing chaos for the masses
This system is a house of cards. A fragile yet hungry snake
The destiny of those who follow decided by the actions that we take

We outnumber them, we’re right, we just have to believe
That the only limit to what we can attain is what we can conceive

Can you feel it yet, can you see it?
‘Cause it’s happening I guarantee it
A tide is rising working underground
To bring this system of corruption and consumption down