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New Ontario bottled water fees not enough to protect groundwater, says Council of Canadians

Bottled water is draining Ontario dry

The Council of Canadians is calling on the Wynne government to ban bottled water takings in Ontario, rather than simply increase water taking fees for the bottled water industry. The Ontario government has released a formal decision to move forward with a regulation that would increase bottled water taking fees from $3.71 per million litres to $503.71 per million litres.

“It’s good that the province has taken a step to increase fees but what people across Ontario really want is for bottled water takings to be phased out. The new increase only amounts to roughly 1/20 of a penny per litre of water that companies like Nestlé sell back to the public,” says Emma Lui, Water Campaigner with the Council of Canadians. “Having severe droughts in recent years means we can’t allow water to be taken and exported out of watersheds, never to be returned again. Only a ban – not just increase on fees – will protect vulnerable groundwater that communities rely on for drinking water.”

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For more information or to arrange interviews:

Dylan Penner, Media Officer, Council of Canadians, 613-795-8685, dpenner@canadians.org. Twitter: @CouncilOfCDNs

Take Action: Demand better from Ontario Premier Wynne on bottled water!