World Water Day is a great time to meet with your member of Parliament and talk about Canada’s water issues. Below are a few points you might want to raise during your discussion. Don’t forget to bring other materials with you, like fact sheets, to help your MP understand your concerns.
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The Federal Water Policy is more than 20 years old and predates the Free Trade Agreement, the Walkerton crisis, the explosion of the bottled water industry, and the serious water shortage threats we now face. Canada needs a new National Water Policy.
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Canada has twice voted against endorsing the right to water at the United Nations, saying it would put Canadian water at risk to demands from the United States. Contrary to this claim, the United States would have a difficult — if not impossible — claim on a humanitarian basis because the United States now leads the world in water consumption and makes few conservation efforts.
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The Great Lakes are now vulnerable to increased diversions with the signing of the Great Lakes Annex agreement, a process the federal government did not participate in or comment on. Instead, the provinces of Ontario and Quebec were left to sign a deal that will allow extensive diversions of Great Lakes’ waters.
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North Dakota is currently planning a diversion project; one option is from Lake of the Woods, Ontario and three others include an inter-basin transfer of water that will impact Manitoba. No level of Canadian government has been consulted.
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Canada will need $41 billion in the next 10 years for water treatment and distribution. Twenty-two per cent of Canadians have no public sewage treatment, and another 19 per cent have ‘crude’ treatment. This leaves municipalities vulnerable to privatization of water systems, posing risks to public health.
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Communities across the country face contamination threats. Diseases from contaminated water cost our health system $300 million per year. In 2005, the community of Kasechewan, Ontario was evacuated because of contamination of drinking water.
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In 2005, North Dakota went forward with the controversial Devils Lake diversion, despite opposition from Manitoba due to pollution fears. North Dakota refused to refer the matter to the International Joint Commission, the agreed arbitrator on Canada – U.S. water disputes.
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More than 25 per cent of Canadian municipalities have faced water shortages. One third of Canadians depend on groundwater for daily needs, despite the serious shortfall in data on groundwater quantity or quality.
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Trade obligations in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) prevent the Government of Canada from truly banning water exports. NAFTA also poses the risk of trade challenges against municipalities from corporations seeking to profit from municipal services, or to exploit public water and bottle it for profit.
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A National Water Policy should include a ban on the bulk export of water, strict restrictions on diversions, and affirm the role of the federal government in international water issues. It should also create national clean drinking water standards, a federal investment plan for municipalities, a comprehensive conservation strategy and must ensure that water does not become a tradable commodity in current and future trade deals.
