As many as one in three First Nation reserves in Canada have been found to lack safe water.
water crisis
Canada-EU trade talks put Canada's water up for sale, says new report
MEDIA RELEASE
For Immediate Release
December 16, 2010
Ottawa, ON -- Canada's already challenged public water systems are under threat from a broad free trade agreement being negotiated by Canada and the European Union (EU). A new report released today, Public Water for Sale: How Canada will privatize our public water systems, warns that public water in Canada will be lost unless the provinces and territories take immediate steps to remove water from the scope of the proposed Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA).
Review: The Muskoka Freshwater Summit
With its 900 lakes and a strong local watershed council, Bracebridge, Ont., was a great location for The Muskoka Freshwater Summit, held on June 1 and 2.
Over coffee and a muffin, I spoke with a kind-eyed, silver-haired woman, Barbara Power, a member of Grandmothers to Grandmothers. Her eyes twinkled as she told me about picketing Mike Harris and Walkerton in 2000 but her grew dark when I asked why she was at the summit. "I'm very worried about the future and concerned about what my granddaughter will inherit."
Mexico's Cola wars continue
The residents of Coajomulco, Mexico are literally having their water taken out from under them. (Photo: Kristen Hanson)
Related rabble.ca story:
Israeli apartheid by any other name still stinks
As the annual Israeli Apartheid Week got underway this week in universities across Ontario and around the world, the denunciations are mounting. In the Ontario Legislature last week, MPPs from all parties supported a motion brought forward by Willowdale MPP Peter Shurman condemning the event and its use of the word "apartheid," which he called "hateful" and "odious." A similar motion is expected to be moved in parliament by the federal Conservatives this week.
Access to water on Canada's reserves
Fresh water. Canada has more of it than almost any other country on Earth. According to the United Nations Development Program, over 99.8 per cent of Canadians have access to pure drinking water and safe sanitation.
But try telling that to Mike Gull. "Our water smells like raw sewage right now," says Gull, head of the water treatment program at Attawapiskat First Nation in northern Ontario. "It's very septic. There's lots of bad stuff in here, lots of dead organic matter."
Chief Connie Gray-McKay of Mishkeegogamang First Nation, 500 km northwest of Thunder Bay, has similar concerns. "Our water smells like iron and magnesium. People have allergic reactions to it, and their laundry turns yellow."
Alternative water futures - The need for non-market solutions to Alberta’s water crisis
Dec 5 2011 - 7:00pm
Dec 5 2011 - 9:00pm
Location
Room 217, Telus Building - University of Alberta Campus
Corner of 111 Street & 87 Avenue
Edmonton, AB Canada
53° 31' 22.4904" N, 113° 31' 4.1988" W
See map: Google Maps
Featuring Jeremy Schmidt
Department of Geography, University of Western Ontario
Author of the upcoming Parkland Institute research report "Alternative Water Futures in Alberta".
In 2008, the Alberta government announced it would review and update the water allocation system in the province, a system that is proving increasingly incapable of dealing with the challenges of today’s emerging water crisis. Policy recommendations released by the government in late 2009 suggest it is moving toward a province-wide deregulated market for water in the province, turning critical decisions about who will be able to access water over to the market.
