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Water

The Council of Canadians fights to protect Canada’s freshwater sources from pollution, privatization, and government neglect. Our campaign work focuses on recognizing water as part of a shared commons and a human right.

Canada has no national strategy to address urgent water issues, leaving it up to communities to defend local waters. We support these Public Water Champions nationwide, mobilizing our tens of thousands of supporters and volunteer chapters. We encourage community empowerment and involvement through our “Blue Communities Project.” We are pushing the Federal government to create a strong and independent Canada Water Agency, a comprehensive National Water Policy, and to end Drinking Water Advisories in First Nations. We are opposing Big Water and its attempts to commodify water.

Water is vital to people’s health and livelihoods. Join us in taking action to protect water!

Federal budget holds promise of the right to water and sanitation for First Nations in Canada

Federal budget holds promise of the right to water and sanitation for First Nations in Canada

Council of Canadians chairperson Maude Barlow visited Shoal Lake in April 2015, a First Nation that has been without ...
Blue Communities Project Guide Resource

Blue Communities Project Guide Resource

There is nothing more important than clean water. We need it for drinking, sanitation and household uses. Communities need water ...
First Nations highlight the right to water and sanitation at United Nations hearings in Geneva

First Nations highlight the right to water and sanitation at United Nations hearings in Geneva

Fawn Wapioke says, "Some Anishinaabe-kweg at the United Nations!" First Nations are raising their demand for the right ...
Council of Canadians assists Shoal Lake 40 representative to speak at the UN on the right to water

Council of Canadians assists Shoal Lake 40 representative to speak at the UN on the right to water

Shoal Lake 40 First Nation policy analyst Cuyler Cotton and Maude Barlow cross the ice-covered diversion canal to ...
Report - Water Rush: Why B.C.’s Water Sustainability Act fails to protect water

Report – Water Rush: Why B.C.’s Water Sustainability Act fails to protect water

In British Columbia, new legislation is urgently needed to address dwindling water sources and current threats to water. B.C. experienced ...
Barlow to speak on the right to water in Ireland, Feb. 13

Barlow to speak on the right to water in Ireland, Feb. 13

Barlow met with Right2Water Ireland activists in Dublin in November 2015. Council of Canadians chairperson Maude Barlow will ...
Human Rights Day: What about our right to water?

Human Rights Day: What about our right to water?

Five years after the United Nations recognized the human rights to clean drinking water and sanitation, a new report by ...
Manitoba may legislate the right to water before April 2016

Manitoba may legislate the right to water before April 2016

The NDP government of Premier Greg Selinger may have just committed to legislating the right to water in Manitoba. In ...