Bill C-69 – the Trudeau government’s proposed changes to Canada’s water, environment and energy laws – passed at Third Reading last week.
Tens of thousands of people including Council of Canadians chapters and supporters banded together to denounce this Bill for further cementing market-based, corporate-friendly policies that exploit water and the environment.
Support for the Bill was divided. Only half of the MPs supported it. All opposition parties voted against it – and the NDP and Green Party told The Narwhal the Bill “appalling.”
The Trudeau government has pushed the 400-page Bill through the House of Commons at an alarming rate, stopping debate at every opportunity.
The Council of Canadians is now calling on Prime Minister Trudeau to develop a national action plan on water that includes:
1) the creation of a federal Minister of Water position;
2) bold Right to Water legislation; and
3) free, prior and informed consent as required by the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
The Council of Canadians has already started working with local communities on next steps to stop Bill C-69 in favour of a national action plan on water including including drafting A People’s Right to Water legislation that boldly reflects what communities want as part of our call for a national action on water and continuing to call for a federal Minister of Water position including in the water chapter of this fall’s Alternative Federal Budget.
Together we must demand from our elected leaders the bold steps that are needed to protect every lake and every river today and for future generations. Sign the Council’s new petition calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to scrap Bill C-69 and take bold action to develop a national action plan on water here.
