ACTION ALERT: Demand that the Harper government vote for the right to water at the UN this week

March 18, 2008

Within the week, a vote is expected at the United Nations Human Rights Council on the recognition of the right to water and the appointment of a ‘special rapporteur’ to advance this right. The Harper government has raised numerous objections to the resolution and is poised to either vote against it or to severely weaken it.

This represents the third time in six years that member nations of the UN have tried to gain recognition of the human right to water. On each occasion, Canada has rejected all efforts to have water recognized as a right. In this latest effort, according to information we’ve obtained from the Geneva-based non-governmental organization the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions, the Harper government is working to block the resolution by demanding that references to the right to water and sanitation be removed and that the scope be reduced. They want the proposed position of special rapporteur to be downgraded to an ‘independent expert’ serving for only one year instead of the proposed three years. They are also opposing visits by this independent expert to individual countries, and the granting of a mandate enabling them to clarify the content of the right to water and sanitation.

Canada and the United States are the only two countries to go on record at the United Nations as opposing the right to water. Maude Barlow says, "Recognizing water as a human right is vital to ensuring that governments address the reality of more than a billion people who are currently without access to clean water. It is shocking that Canada would work with the United States to oppose this fundamental right.”

At the last UN Human Rights Council session in September 2007, Louise Arbour, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, acknowledged that the human right to water is part of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The Harper government’s opposition to the right to water is an international embarrassment and a disgrace. It must recognize that a 2004 Ipsos-Reid poll showed that 97% of Canadians support the right to water.

For more information on the Council of Canadians campaign on the right to water, please click here.  

TAKE ACTION

Send a letter from our website (below) to Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier at BerniM@parl.gc.ca. You may also want to copy your message to Canada’s permanent mission at the United Nations in Geneva at genev@international.gc.ca.

Brent Patterson, Director of Campaigns, Organizing

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SEND YOUR LETTER NOW:

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Recipients	BerniM@parl.gc.ca; genev@international.gc.ca
Compose your letter in the box below.
Minister Bernier, The Council of Canadians has repeatedly asked that the Harper government support water as a human right and to protect it as a public trust. With the upcoming vote at the UN Human Rights Council on the right to water and the appointment of a special rapporteur, I join with the Council of Canadians to demand that your government support this resolution as worded by the governments of Spain and Germany. The international movement for the establishment of a right to water is growing. Across the globe, civil society groups, individuals and their communities are taking up the issue as a rallying cry. Thanks to collaborative efforts of vibrant social movements, an increasing number of countries, especially in the global South, have officially stated their support for the establishment of the right to water. Canada's position on the right to water is attracting negative attention from the international community. I remind you that on May 19, 2006, the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights criticized Canada for not recognizing the right to water: "The Committee regrets that the State party does not recognize the right to water as a legal entitlement, which is implicitly provided for under articles 11 and 12 of the Covenant, as outlined in the Committee's General Comment no. 15 (2002) on the right to water" (Article 30, p.6). It also strongly recommended that Canada review its position on the right to water: "The Committee strongly recommends that the State party review its position on the right to water, in line with the Committee's General Comment no. 15 (2002) on the right to water, so as to ensure equal and adequate access to water for people living in the State party, irrespective of the Province or Territory in which they live or the community to which they belong" (Article 64, p.10). I will be watching to see how your government votes on the right to water at this session of the United Nations Human Rights Council. Sincerely,
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