Tell the Canadian government it’s time to recognize water as a human right and protect it from privatization. Sign and circulate a petition pressing for action in five key areas.
There’s growing pressure on water systems and supplies in Canada and around the world.
Underfunding, privatization, pollution, climate change and international trade deals all pose significant threats.
Water is a basic human right. Yet in 2008 – international year of sanitation – 2.6 billion people in poor countries lack access to basic toilet and sanitation facilities. A further 1.4 billion people don’t have access to safe drinking water. In Canada, many First Nations communities have unsafe drinking water and inadequate wastewater treatment systems.
The Quebec World Water Contract Association, the Council of Canadians and Development and Peace are circulating a petition calling on the federal government to:
- oppose World Bank efforts to impose privatization on poor countries;
- stop funding the Private-Public Infrastructure Advisory Facility, an organization that pushes water P3s;
- support public, democratic and participatory management of water resources that expand water access;
- officially recognize the human right to water at the UN Human Rights Council; and
- develop a Canadian action plan guaranteeing the right to water and sanitation
- protect water resources from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
Download a copy of the petition today, and circulate it in your workplace and community. It’s available in English and French. And watch cupe.ca for more water actions leading up to World Water Day on March 22.