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Partners in Water Justice

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The water justice movement in Canada

A coalition of key Canadian organizations are joining forces this World Water Day to bring a message of water justice to the Canadian public. The Council of Canadians, CUPE, Oxfam and the Polaris Institute all campaign on water issues, but have different approaches and focus on different projects. These groups are coming together to promote the theme of this year’s World Water Day: Water for people, not for profit.

The Council of Canadians

The Council of Canadians is Canada’s largest citizens’ organization, with members and chapters across the country. The organization works to protect Canadian independence by promoting progressive policies on fair trade, clean water, energy security, public health care, and other issues of social and economic concern to Canadians.

The Council works on water issues from both a national and international perspective. The national water campaign’s goal is to convince the Canadian government to enact a National Water Policy that would include a ban on bulk water exports, national standards on drinking water quality, a national investment strategy to upgrade water infrastructure in First Nations communities, the exclusion of water from all trade agreements, and the recognition of water as a fundamental human right and a shared public resource.

For more information visit www.canadians.org/water.

CUPE

The 570,000 members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees deliver public services in communities across the country, including water services. For more than a decade, CUPE has worked with coalition partners at the grassroots level to successfully defend public ownership and Justicecontrol of water and wastewater systems, and to protect public water supplies. CUPE is a strong advocate for increased federal and provincial funding to municipalities so that cities and towns can upgrade and expand water systems without being forced to privatize through “public-private-partnerships,” or P3s. Through its international work, CUPE promotes water as a public service and a human right for everyone on the planet.

For more information visit www.cupe.ca/water.

Oxfam

Oxfam campaigns on the idea that water is life. The organization raises concern that more than 1 billion people are forced to drink contaminated water, half of the hospital beds in developing countries are occupied by people suffering from sanitation and water-related diseases, and 4,000 children die each day from diarrhea caused by drinking contaminated water. Oxfam recognizes that safe water is essential to a healthy and productive life.

Oxfam is working to have Canada officially recognize water is a human right. The organization says that safe water and sanitation are key to improving girls’ access to education, promoting gender equality, and reducing child mortality.

For more information visit www.oxfam.ca.

Polaris Institute

The Polaris Institute is continuing its work to challenge the bottled water and water privatization industry as part of a global water justice movement supporting water as a public commons – both as a fundamental human right and an ecological trust. As part of World Water Day activities, Polaris will be releasing a report on bulk water exports called Turning on Canada’s Tap, and kick-starting a bottled water-free zones campaign that challenges the corporate control of water one space at a time. Visit www.inside thebottle.org to find out how to create a ‘zone’ in your classroom, union local, community centre and beyond.

For more information visit www.polarisinstitute.org/water.

The water justice movement around the world

The Blue Planet Project (BPP) is the international component of the Council of Canadians’ water campaign. The project works to protect the world’s fresh water from the growing threats of commodification and privatization. It promotes public, efficient, community-controlled water systems that are accountable to citizens and ensure the rights of future generations within a sustainable ecosystem. The BPP works with organizations and activists in both northern and southern countries, and is affiliated with many international networks.

RED VIDA

In English, RED VIDA translates as Inter-American Vigilance for the Defence and the Right to Water. Formed in El Salvador in August 2003, Red VIDA seeks to strengthen civil society groups by coordinating activities and sharing information on the struggle for the right to water. RED VIDA played a prominent role in launching the Peoples’ World Water Movement, which took place at a summit in New Delhi on the eve of the 2004 World Social Forum in Mumbai, India.

African Water Network

On January 24, 2007, representatives from civil society groups and social movements launched a new African Water Network to counter the misguided push for water privatization around the world. More than 250 activists representing African organizations and social movements from over 40 African countries committed to supporting this network during an historic session at the 7th World Social Forum in Nairobi. The network fights against water privatization, campaigns for public control and management of water resources, opposes all forms of prepaid water meters, and fights to have water enshrined in African countries’ national constitutions as a human right.

The World Water Contract Network

This international committee was formed in Lisbon in 1998, and is made up of international organizations, academics and individuals who are working to spread and raise awareness about new sources of water pollution, push for improvements to irrigation systems and industrial agriculture, promote a 10-to-15-year moratorium on the construction of large dams, and establish a World Water Watch dedicated to securing the human right to water.

For more information on the international movement to secure the right to water, visit www.blueplanetproject.net and www.righttowater.ca.

A fierce resistance to the corporate takeover of water has grown in every corner of the globe, giving rise to a coordinated and successful water justice movement.

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updated February 27, 2008