Midland is a town of 16,300 people in Simcoe County, Ontario. It is situated on the southern end of Georgian Bay.
The Midland Free Press reports, “Coun. Glen Canning (says) Midland could explore becoming a Blue Community. Tiny Township recently became Ontario’s first Blue Community. The concept, created by the Council of Canadians, urges municipalities to declare water as a human right, calls on them to ban the sale of bottled water in civic spaces and support public ownership of water utilities.”
Part of the backstory is, “An email to Mayor Gordon McKay asking for an explanation of why caterers served food on Styrofoam plates at a volunteer appreciation barbecue has revived a debate about plastic water bottles. The email – from Anne Wilkes – asked McKay to take to council the question of why Styrofoam plates and plastic water bottles are still used. …McKay responded that it was a policy question. ‘Policy,’ he added, ‘is up to council.’ …Mayor McKay asked town staff to bring in a report about what could be done.”
On March 22 this year, Burnaby, British Columbia became the first blue community in Canada. Then on June 23, the city council of Victoria, BC voted to become a blue community. On September 12, Tiny, Ontario became the third blue community in Canada. In late-September, British Columbia’s municipal leaders voted, overwhelmingly, in favour of a ‘Blue Communities’ resolution at the Union of British Columbia Municipalities conference.
To find out how to make your community a blue community, please go to http://canadians.org/bluecommunities.
