Water is a right!
Our water should be our most prized asset to Canadians, especially since more water borders our country than any other in the entire world (if you ignore Antarctica, which is only a continent and not a country).
Water is important to every living thing on the Earth and so it should be protected.
It is said that around three days of no water would threaten life, so it is obvious to state that humans absolutely need water to survive.
So why would we want people messing around with our water if we need it to live?
Well, companies, such as water bottling companies, plastic producers, oil sands and fracking companies all utilize water for their businesses in order to manufacture their products (water in water bottles, create plastic, and extract raw bitumen respectively).
They use water to create these products in order to gain a profit, or, in other words, they use water as a means to garner money, and many governments sell our water at a very cheap price which allows companies to make that nice profit.
By using water as a means rather than an end, it allows people to use the water however they want to further their goals.
If water was an end, however, then water would be not be seen as a commodity, but rather it would be seen as an objective substance that deserves to be taken with respect.
That means that people do not just use it for their own gain and actually see the inherent quality that it provides for everyone.
People are dependent on water to live, so if the human race were to use water to serve their selfish needs (like endlessly driving around, drinking water out of pointless plastic water bottles, and have plastic everything), then people would not be showing respect for the water as we should.
Did you know that it takes just as much water that goes inside that bottle to make one water bottle itself?
That means that there is, essentially, two water bottles to just make one water bottle. What a waste of water.
Have you ever heard about Schedule 2? That is where the government can reclassify fresh water lakes as ‘Tailing Impoundment Areas’ for mining corporations—a loophole added to the Fisheries Act’s Metal Mining Effluent Regulation, which normally prohibits the dumping of substances that would harm fish and fish habitat. This will destroy our truly Canadian prized lakes.
Did you know that CETA (the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement between Canada and Europe) would open up our water to be privatized?
CETA would allow European water companies, where many water ways are privatized already, to challenge Canadian governments and water bills that protect our water, through the law. We will have no Canadian sovereignty by going that route.
Did you know that Alberta is the first province to have water markets?
This means that access to water will be driven by profit and not the needs of the people or the planet.
This means that the highest bidder gets increased access to this essential resource, and the highest bidder is not your average hard working Albertan family. This issue will only be compounded if CETA were to roll through.
Water is an important need to human life and it should be conserved for future generations. That is why it is important to know as much as you can and stand up for what is important to you. There is an event being put on by Occupy Red Deer and the Council of Canadians to increase the
awareness of water issues. It’s at Red Deer College in the Forum on March 22 (World Water Day) from 11 to 2.
I am worried about these issues and the natural beauty of our planet, so I will be there to support it. Will you?
Derrick Callan
Red Deer