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It is finally time to pay the piper for the water we consume, accepting higher prices as a necessary cost of the municipal system.
Canadians, Ottawans included, have been very complacent over the decades about this abundant resource. We use our fresh water liberally. And we do so because it is cheap.
But now city staff is warning Ottawa residents who use the municipal system that the amount we pay for the privilege of clean water and the efficiency of our sewers is to climb nine per cent in 2007 and the same percentage in each of the three years following.
This is the price of delaying repairs to aging water systems too long. It is also the price of Walkerton, which has focused the attention of the province on the need to avoid tainted-water scandals.
And so our city now must stop dumping human filth into the Ottawa River and finally separate storm runoff from sewage.
The question with which councillors will wrestle is whether this should be part of the “zero means zero” debate that will guide the 2007 budget deliberations over the next month.
The mayor’s spokesman says the freeze should cover water and sewer bills as well, but putting that political spin on such a basic service might lead us to delay work.
Increasing the total on the water bill might also have a beneficial result. Users might be convinced to respect the resource.
There is only one taxpayer, so it is dangerous to remove key city expenses from a debate about taxation—the ever-rising police budget, whose hikes now don’t count for budget purposes, is one obvious reason why this is a bad idea.
But if council is going to keep the water debate within a broader discussion, it needs to be mindful of the need to ensure that the basics are delivered, and clean water would be one of those.
Ottawa is not alone in facing a rising tide of water bills. Torontonians too are now confronting the possibility of 12-per-cent hikes in what they pay.
Toronto’s and Ottawa’s water woes are a stark example of the broader infrastructure issue that plagues major Canadian cities. Billions of dollars worth of upgrades are needed and there is not enough money to do them.
Certainly, in Ontario, we need to rethink what the province asks its cities to do and how it helps them pay for those tasks. A new form of taxation to replace the ancient property tax is one possibility. But until that kind of reform takes place, we have little choice but to drink from a bitter cup and pay for it.