Canadians across the country took to the streets, hosted public forums and wrote their politicians during the week of March 22, World Water Day, to draw attention to a range of water justice issues, including Canada's refusal to ensure that access to clean water is a human right, and problems created by bottled water consumption.
More than one billion people worldwide do not have access to clean water, including Canadian communities that are under long-term boil water orders. Many Aboriginal communities in Canada, such as Kashechewan, are particularly disadvantaged, with 80 communities currently needing to boil their water.
The United Nations has recognized water as a right, but in 2002, Canada was the only country to take a position against this right. The water day events were organized by KAIROS (an ecumenical social justice organization that the Presbyterian Church supports), the Council of Canadians and CUPE. KAIROS has been calling on the federal government to change its position and to develop a policy that will ensure national standards for water.
The current policy's objective “is to encourage the use of freshwater in an efficient and equitable manner consistent with the social, economic and environmental needs of present and future generations,” according to Environment Canada's freshwater website.
“The underlying philosophy of the policy is that Canadians must start viewing water both as a key to environmental health and as a scarce commodity having real value that must be managed accordingly.”
A key aspect to ensuring the policy is “water pricing”, where Canadians could see increased costs for water usage, and be subject to a sort of penalty system for overuse or pollution.
“Realistic water pricing would make the users conscious of the real value of the resource and delivery systems, and would reduce the demand on those systems,” states the policy. “It would also encourage efficiency through improved technology, and lead to water conservation and reduced pressures for costly system expansion.”
Concerns about increased consumption of bottled water stems from the fact that empty bottles can end up in landfills, and the petroleum needed to produce the plastic bottles puts an added strain on fossil fuel supply. Bottled water also creates a two-tier system as only those with enough disposable income can afford to purchase it regularly.
“Water is a necessity of life and, therefore, must be considered a fundamental human right. And access to clean drinking water must remain in public or municipal control,” said Sara Stratton, KAIROS' campaigns coordinator, in a press release. “The very notion of buying bottled water, when a safe and publicly-funded utility provides drinking water, undermines the collective understanding of water as something which we all need to live.”
— with files from KAIROS
