It is World Water Day, a day to celebrate the world’s water heritage and ensure clean, adequate supplies of drinking water and sanitation for all. To our shame, Canada is once again leading a charge to weaken language in an important United Nations document that would reiterate the human right to water and sanitation leading up to the June Earth Summit Rio + 20.

As a wealthy country with a modest population of 35 million and vast supplies of freshwater in many parts of the land, one would expect Canada to play a leading role in championing the protection of water resources and ensuring optimal water and sanitation services for all.

Yet for decades Canada has stood in the way of international recognition of water and sanitation as a human right. Now that it has been recognized since 2010 through resolutions at the UN General Assembly and Human Rights Council, Canada is attempting to rewrite history by eliminating all references to the resolutions in international documents including the Rio+20 negotiating text which is to frame the discussions at the World Summit on Sustainable Development next June.

March 22 is World Water Day, and to mark this day, the Council of Canadians is encouraging its chapters and the public to take action for water in their community. As you know, there are few things more important than clean, safe water. But corporate control of drinking water, the growth of the bottled water industry, pollution from mining companies and fracking projects, and water shortages from droughts and over-extractions are all part of a growing global water crisis. In Canada, our government has failed to safeguard our water by refusing to implement a National Water Policy to protect and conserve it. The Canadian government also shamefully ignores the human right to water and sanitation, which was recognized by the United Nations in July 2010.

by Katherine Dodds

Water has been an issue dear to my heart since we started the company 9 years ago. My mother always said, if you want to do one thing to decrease suffering in the world, make sure you give everyone, everywhere access to free, clean water.

Sadly, we've gone in the other direction.

We've polluted the last largest fresh water body on earth (The Great Lakes) and we are heading towards what many believe are the world water wars. And did you know that Nestle controls most of the world's bottled water?