In honor of David Suzuki’s 80th birthday on March 24, Canadians are calling for more action to “protect, respect and fulfill our right to clean water.” Canada has one-fifth of the Earth’s fresh water, a quarter of its remaining wetlands and the world’s longest coastline so it should come as no surprise that water is an important issue for Canadians. Led by the Suzuki Foundation, the Blue Dot movement said:
“Access to clean water is a fundamental pillar in the right to a healthy
environment. Finland, Uruguay and Greece have already used
environmental rights legislation to protect marine biodiversity, limit
overfishing, stop destructive dam projects and protect indigenous
peoples’ right to clean drinking water.”
According to the Suzuki Foundation the Canadian government isn’t doing enough to protect our water. They are urging Canadians to speak out on the occasion of World Water Day on March 22, 2016.
They are reaching out to their Blue Dot supporters and others to ask them to tell the federal government and Canadians to support legal protections that enshrine water as a precious resource. They are specifically calling for an environmental bill of rights that include:
- Respect our right to clean water: Pass a federal environmental bill of rights to recognize our right to a healthy environment and hold water in the public trust for future generations.
- Protect our right to clean water: create legally binding national standards for drinking water quality and set long-term targets and timelines for water pollution reduction.
- Fulfill our right to clean water: reinforce the mandate to address the drinking water crisis in Indigenous communities, establish a Canada Water Fund to foster the clean water tech industry and create a robust national water quality and quantity monitoring system.
As explained by Marianne Gallinger, Blue Dot movement volunteer, the right to a healthy environment is not only about us it is “also about protecting the health and happiness of future generations. It’s our responsibility to leave behind a positive legacy.”
More than 110 municipalities have passed environmental rights declarations. This comprises 11.5 million people (one-third of the population)who live in a community that has passed a right to healthy environment declaration. Please help Blue dot to continue to build on this incredible momentum. The ultimate goal is the recognition of the right to a healthy environment in Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The Blue Dot movement is asking Canadians to a write a letter to the editor of their local newspapers demanding strong federal leadership on the right to clean water. Click here for more information.
Canadians are also being asked to sign the Blue Dot pledge: “Will you stand with the groundswell of people across Canada who are calling on all levels of government to recognize our right to a healthy environment (including the right to water)” and join the #WaterIs THUNDERCLAP.
In addition concerned Canadians are asked to talk about federal environmental rights as well as encourage their MPs to champion these rights federally.
