Today we issued a media release that states, “Leading organizations from across Canada are calling on members of the Liberal Party to support a party resolution on the right to water at their convention this week in Vancouver.”
It continues: In an open letter to members of the Liberal Party of Canada, Council of Canadians chair Maude Barlow, David Brooks of Friends of the Earth Canada, water-expert David Schindler of the University of Alberta and others state, “We congratulate the Liberal Party of Canada (Ontario) for putting forward a resolution calling for a national water policy that bans bulk water exports, establishes enforceable clean water standards, calls for a conservation strategy, demands the exclusion of water from NAFTA and recognizes water as a human right.”
Other signatories to the open letter include Tony Maas, World Wildlife Fund; Matt Price, Environmental Defence; Tony Clarke, Polaris Institute; Stephen Hazel, Sierra Club of Canada; Sarah Kambites, United Nations Association of Canada; Abrahim Khan, Trinity College, University of Toronto; and Clayton Thomas- Mueller, Indigenous Environmental Network.
The resolution to be considered by the Liberal Party this Friday resolves that, “Canada establish a National Water Policy that would protect water from commoditization, and from international agreements that would undermine the authority of the Canadian government and citizens by introducing binding legislation to ban bulk water exports; and committing the federal government to enter talks with the U.S. and Mexico to exclude water from NAFTA and all future trade agreements; (and) enshrine water as a human right to ensure that all people living in Canada are legally entitled to safe, clean, drinking water and water for sanitation in sufficient quantities…”
Council of Canadians national water campaigner Meera Karunananthan says, “Having the Liberal Party endorse this resolution is vital to Canadians who demand water justice in this country and around the world. We call on members of the Liberal Party to demonstrate leadership and support this very important resolution.”
More than 1,500 delegates are expected at the Liberal Party of Canada ‘2009 Biennial Convention’ in Vancouver, which will take place April 30 to May 2.
