Protect water

88% of Canadians agree that Canada should adopt a comprehensive national water policy that recognizes clean drinking water as a basic human right and also bans the bulk export of fresh water.

Canada does not have a National Water Policy to protect fresh water from the threats of contamination, shortages and pressure to export water to the United States and big business is benefiting from this policy gap.

The private sector sees crumbling infrastructure in municipalities and First Nations communities as an opportunity to cash in on essential water and sanitation services. Metal mining corporations are now using lakes and rivers as dump sites for their toxic water. Big oil corporations operating in the Alberta tar sands are destroying wetlands, withdrawing an unsustainable 359 million cubic metres of water per year and contaminating the Athabasca watershed. Bottled water companies are making colossal profits by draining aquifers and selling ancient glacier water all over the world. These are just a few examples of how big business is profiting from the Canadian government’s mismanagement of our fresh water.

A new National Water Policy must include the recognition of water as a human right, a ban on bulk water exports, restrictions on water diversions, national drinking water standards, public infrastructure upgrades, and enforceable measures to protect source water from contamination and depletion.

Internationally, the Canadian government has repeatedly voted against recognizing the right to water at the United Nations. Water is a human right and shouldn’t be sold for profit.

This federal election, tell candidates to support a National Water Policy that protects clean water resources, and support the initiative to declare water a human right at the UN.