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OTTAWA / March 12, 2009 – At 7pm today, a coalition of national and local water advocacy groups will illuminate the Peace Tower with a spectacular projection of blue light and toast public water to highlight the need for federal action to support Canada’s public water resources and services. Today’s event will kick-off a series of “paint your town blue” actions taking place across the country to mark World Water Day (March 22, 2009).
“The quality of Canadian drinking water exceeds that of almost any other country in the world,” says Maude Barlow, chairperson of the Council of Canadians and Senior Advisor on Water to the President of the UN General Assembly. “But without a national water policy to protect source water, promote public ownership of water services and ensure strong conservation strategies, we are beginning to see the impacts of a looming water crisis.”
While raising a glass to public water, groups will highlight the need for federal investment in public infrastructure.
“The bottled water industry tries to undermine public water systems by implying its product is somehow safer or more regulated than tap water – even though many corporations repackage municipal water and sell it at an outrageous markup,” says Paul Moist, National President of the Canadian Union of Public Employees. “It’s time to think outside the bottle and reinvest public infrastructure dollars in maintaining and upgrading the public water and wastewater systems that serve our communities so well.”
Those in attendance will also be celebrating the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ decision to encourage all municipalities to phase out the sale of bottled water.
“Across the country, municipalities, school boards, universities and restaurants are demonstrating their commitment to the tap by phasing out bottled water,” says Joe Cressy, Campaigns Coordinator of the Polaris Institute. “It’s high time that Canada’s parliamentarians also stood up for public water”.
Prominent Canadians who will toast public water at the event, include Maude Barlow (Chairperson of the Council of Canadians and Senior Advisor on Water to the President UN General Assembly); Robert Fox (Executive Director of Oxfam Canada); Jack Layton (Leader, New Democratic Party of Canada); Meredith Brown (Executive Director of Ottawa Riverkeeper); and Catherine Coumans (Research Coordinator of Mining Watch). Invitations to provide a toast were extended to the leaders of all five of Canada’s Federal political parties.
The event is organized by the Council of Canadians, the Polaris Institute and the Canadian Union of Public Employees.
For more information:
Joe Cressy, Polaris Institute, 613-668-5542, joecressy@polarisinstitute.org
Dylan Penner, Council of Canadians, 613-795-8685, dpenner@canadians.org
Meredith Brown, Ottawa Riverkeeper, 613-321-1120, keeper@ottawariverkeeper.ca