The 2019 Alternative Federal Budget released last week outlines how much funding the Trudeau government needs to allocate in the 2019 budget — leading up to the federal election — to protect drinking water and watersheds.
The water chapter of the Alternative Federal Budget notes:
“Canada must take action to recognize water as a human right, a shared commons and a public trust. The United Nations has declared human rights to water and sanitation in several resolutions as well as in the 2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Now that Canada has passed the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), it must obtain free, prior and informed consent from Indigenous peoples on all laws, projects and policies affecting water.”
It calls for adequate funding to:
- End drinking water advisories in First Nations.
- Reinstate federal funding for water programs at Environment and Climate Change Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada and Transport Canada.
- Implement a comprehensive action plan to protect the Great Lakes Basin.
- Complete watershed mapping and ensure groundwater protection.
- Create a federal water minister position to co-ordinate the more than 20 departments that set federal policies affecting water.
To learn more about how much funding is needed to implement the human rights to water and sanitation, read the water chapter of the Alternative Federal Budget here.
To read about other topics like the environment and climate change, First Nations, infrastructure and more, click here.
Emma Lui is the Water Campaigner with the Council of Canadians. This article was first posted on the Council of Canadians blog.
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