Warning message

Please note that this page is from our archives. There may be more up-to-date content about this topic on our website. Use our search engine to find out.

More than 100 experts and activists attended Winnipegs first Water Watch conference looking at the safety of Manitobas drinking water and the state of our countrys freshwater supplies.

Opening the weekend event, CUPE Manitoba president Paul Moist said while water is the lifeblood of the environment and an essential resource for humans, people take it for granted.

Global consumption of water is doubling every 20 years, said Moist. If the current trends continue, by 2025 the demand for freshwater is expected to rise by 56 per cent more than is currently available.

In a lunch address to delegates, Manitoba Premier Gary Doer said he strongly opposed the Newfoundland proposal to allow the sale of bulk water from Gisborne Lake and would continue to call on the federal government to amend NAFTA to ban water exports.

Doer also told the conference that his government is reversing the privatization of provincial water well testing.