Send a message to Ottawa on World Water Day

March 22 was designated World Water Day in 1992, at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, to raise awareness about the importance of preserving global water resources. Since then, communities, organizations and activists around the world have come together every year on March 22 to highlight water struggles and the need for clean, accessible, public water for everyone.

Water is our most precious gift and is essential to all life. But the world is on the brink of a global water crisis, as scarcity, pollution and globalization mean that more and more people do not have access to clean drinking water.

Here in Canada, there are many threats to our water. Communities across the country have faced shortages, water companies are working to privatize our services, and there is growing pressure to treat water as a commodity and sell it on the open market. Canada is the only country in the world to have voted against the right to water at the United Nations.

This year, to celebrate World Water Day, the Council of Canadians joined forces with our friends and allies at the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), Oxfam Canada and the Polaris Institute to organize events across the country to under the them "Water for People, Not for Profit."

The Council of Canadians, CUPE, Oxfam Canada and the Polaris Institute are also proud launch an online action to send a strong message to Prime Minister Harper that Canada's water supply must be protected.

This week, almost 50 communities across Canada celebrated World Water Day from St. John's to Victoria with panel discussions, film screenings of the NFB documentary Dead in the Water, and a lobbying day to demand a national water policy for Canada. In Ottawa, we braved the freezing rain to march to Parliament Hill on March 19 carrying a banner that read Water for Life, Not for Profit!

This March 22, World Water Day, send a message to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and your Member of Parliament calling on them to support the right to water. To support our World Water Day action - Tell PM Harper 'Water is for people, not profit' visit www.RightToWater.ca [1] and sign our letter.

This letter makes clear our opposition to bulk water exports and privatization of water, and demands that Canada live up to its international commitments and recognize safe drinking water as a fundamental human right.

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