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Water rights, who needs them?

In Canada we are lucky. We have plenty of water. We also have plenty of resources to access that water and ensure that we have enough clean drinking water for all. But not all countries are that lucky.

In Canada we are lucky. We have plenty of water. We also have plenty of resources to access that water and ensure that we have enough clean drinking water for all. But not all countries are that lucky. Many humans cannot access clean water for drinking or sanitation and require un-tied assistance from countries like Canada to do so.

To some it may seem unnecessary to entrench the human right to water into the Canadian Constitution because, as I said, there is plenty of water for everyone, and we trust our government to provide it to us. But in countries without the assurance that there will be clean drinking water flowing from a community tap, the human right to water can be the difference between life and death.

Sure, rights may not be something tangible that can be held out and filled up with imaginary replacement water, when a village refuses or is unable to provide its residents with clean drinking water. And rights may not be enforceable; there is no world-rights police force patrolling the streets of each country - and I hope there never is.

But, rights are something every human shares. They are something that another human would stand up for, even if theirs were not personally being violated. Rights give us the right to stand up to those who have the power to violate them.

And look at the rights we are willing to stand up for: the right to free speech, the right to mobility, the right to live free of torture, the right to live free of discrimination, I could go on. We fight for those, how can we not fight for the right to clean water? How can we not fight for the right of every individual to have access to clean drinking water, something required to survive.

In July 2010 the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution recognizing access to clean drinking water and sanitation a human right. Canada was one of about 40 countries that abstained from the vote, with well over 100 voting in favour. Since 2002, Canada has formerly opposed water as a human right, citing the possibility that a foreign company could claim our water reserves for their commercial use, under their right to water.

However, this is not true, as described in an essay by Ashfaq Khalfan and Thorsten Kiefer “Why Canada must Recognise the Human Right to Water and Sanitation.” The essay explains that personal drinking water and sanitation account for only about five per cent of overall water use. And a claim on water reserves could only be feasible if it pertained to personal drinking water and sanitation, not commercial uses, which account for the majority of water use.

American investors and their commercial use of Canadian water, on the other hand, are protected by something much scarier than human rights: the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

Since the inception of our current government in 2006, a stance on water as a human right has not been clearly identified. But we can be sure that it is not in favour of it. Abstaining from a vote is by no means an endorsement of a resolution. And in a recent interview I did with Alberta Environment spokesperson Cara Tobin, she confirmed Canada's uncertain stance, and thus Alberta's as well. In regards to water as a human right, she responded, “That has not been formerly said by the province or the country.”

Why not? Are we still scared that an American investor and his team of lawyers will come across the border and fight to pipe water back south to Arizona or Texas? That will likely happen anyway, i.e. NAFTA.

How can our government just disregard one of the most vital human rights? Why is it so afraid to stand up for one of the most basic of humans needs?

I say protect our water from being sold to anyone. Tell the world loud and clear, our water is not for sale.

But if there are humans lacking clean drinking water, we should provide some to them, or at least provide the means for them to provide access for themselves.




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