The Council of Canadians is available for comment on Statistics Canada’s new study on freshwater supply and demand in Canada expected to be released today at 8:30am ET.
To address the anticipated serious water loss, the Council of Canadians is calling on the federal government to add a Minister of Water to cabinet, as many other countries have done, including Australia, India and South Africa. The Council argues the minister is needed to urgently restore and strengthen freshwater protections.
“Statistics Canada’s study is proof that water sources are disappearing at an alarming rate,” says Emma Lui, water campaigner with the Council of Canadians. “And as climate change accelerates, more droughts and more flooding will impact the water supplies of communities and ecosystems. We need a Minister of Water to protect water in Canada by stopping projects that threaten local water sources like pipelines, fracking and bottled water extraction.”
The Council is also calling for a national water policy, to be developed on a nation-to-nation basis with Indigenous peoples, that protects water, recognizes Indigenous water rights and enshrines water as a human right.
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