How To Clean Water In Canada

To understand the current state of the safe water issue for our First Nation people, it is important to look at some current statistics. The Council of Canadians (2015) reports that “as of January 2015, there have been 169 drinking water advisories in 126 First Nation communities. With Ontario having the highest number 79, followed by British Columbia 35, Saskatchewan 24, Alberta 17, the Atlantic 7 and Quebec 2.” (p. 6) The graphic below helps us see the severity of the issue by showing the drinking water

Simple everyday things for Canadians to reduce water consumption would to fix leaky faucets, take shorter showers, and turn off the tap when they brush their teeth. Other courses of action for people would be to install toilets that use less water per flush and for the government, they could start to tax people for water usage. Some strategies to farmers would be to use drip irrigation systems, which deliver water directly to the plants roots.

Water is the single most important commodity that every organism needs to survive. When astronomers look for other inhabitable planets, one of the primary features they look for is the presence of water. It would then logically be inferred that water is essential to modern human society, but as seen with the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, it seems that isn’t the case. Thousands of people have encountered serious health problems and millions of dollars in damages have occurred, and all of this has been a result an ignorant and irresponsible government switching water sources in an effort to save money. In doing so, the government of Michigan ultimately caused adverse and destructive effects on the city of Flint and its inhabitants.

On July 28th 2010, through Resolution 64/292, the United Nations General Assembly explicitly recognized the human right to water and sanitation. They acknowledged that clean drinking water and sanitation are essential to the realization of all human rights. The UN stated that water should be, “safe, sufficient, acceptable [taste, colour, odor], physically accessible, and affordable” (Knight and Hartl, 2003). Water is one of the most important elements to human life. In Canada we are host to about twenty percent of the world’s fresh water (Boyd, 2003). It has a square kilometer measurement large enough to cover both California and Nevada (Matsui, 2012, p. 1). While most Canadians who live in urban areas are free to enjoy safe drinking water, some First Nations communities living on reserves do not (White, Murphy, Spence, 2012). For instance, as of July 2010, 116 First Nation communities in Canada were under a drinking water advisory (Health Canada, 2010), with many of these communities living under advisories for prolonged periods of time. This issue is of vital importance to discuss and evaluate because clean, safe drinking water is a mandated human right. In Canada we have failed to ensure that water on reserves meets that standards set out by the UN.

According to the Canadian Council of Social Justice, poor water quality and unsanitary living conditions have cause over 1000 residents to be evacuated in some cases and over 21 communities are considered high-risk for water contamination (Safe Water for First Nations, n.d.). There are different levels of risk within the accessible water issue which are a boil water advisory, do not consume and advisory (Eggerston, 2015). Within Ontario specifically, there were 158 water systems that were tested and 46% were considered high-risk and 16% are low overall risk (Dupont et al., 2014). Within in Canada there is a slew of

Living Canada, it is hard to believe what it would be like to not have a virtually unlimited supply of freshwater. In places and areas where freshwater is not that easy to get, such as the drought in California that is so highly talked about, as well as places in Africa who wonder if they will have enough fresh water to last the rest of the week. Being a country of high strength in this resource we have to think if we are going to help some to these countries or not. This piece writing will explain what freshwater really is and whether Canada should export our water to the United States of America and why we should not.

Since more than 70% of the Earth is covered with water, one would assume that there is enough water for everyone. However, this statement would be incorrect. Only 3% of that water is considered usable and 2% of the usable water is locked in the polar ice caps. This leaves 1% of that water for the use of humans. Canada possesses a substantial amount of this water, while other countries are less fortunate. One of these countries is the United States of America, the biggest users of water in the world. They are looking for a new source of water and have been hoping Canada can be this new source. The Canadian government should accept the proposal to sell water in bulk to the United States due to the availability, the safety and the economic

Water is one of life’s most precious resources. Without it, life as we know it would cease to exist. Almost all life is dependent on water for survival. Humanity uses water in almost everything they do in their daily lives, whether that be for consumption or production. However water itself is not enough to sufice, clean water is required for life to thrive. Dirty untreated water can be the cause for death as well, so it is integral that water be kept clean. The government has enacted laws to ensure that our water is maintained and kept clean. These laws cover industries, plumbing, and sanitation among other things. Unfortunately, the city government in Flint Michigan willfully failed to provide safe water for its citizens.

Due to the location of Canada, they retain a large amount of fresh water, 20% to be exact (Water 2012). However, even with the large percentage only 7% of the renewable freshwater and most of the water (just like in the United States) is not located in desirable areas. The majority of the Canadian population lives along the southern border with the United States and which creates the problem of most of the country 's fresh water is found in the north drainage basins (Water 2012). As this hard to reach water reaches the cities or towns, municipal water supply only accounts for 12% of water use in Canada (Water Uses 2013). The larger user of this finite source come form cooling plants (64%), manufacturing (14%) and agriculture (9%) (Water Uses 2013).

The Canadian constitution divides power between the provincial and federal levels. Division of power is used in a democracy society and has resulted division of responsibilities. For an example, provinces have jurisdiction over non-renewable resources, oil, electricity generation and forestry, however the federal government responsibilities include fisheries, navigation and international waters. This division of power may have been helpful for certain environmental issues however not, when it comes to regulation of the water. This is because, there are multiple levels of government that control the water (Olive, 2016). Division of powers, instead of a national policy

Water should not be extracted from Canada for the following reasons. First, the price of bottled water is often higher than a liter of gasoline. This means that by buying bottled water Canadians are losing money when Canada has one of the world’s cleanest tap water. Bottled water companies still make money off it as they say tap water is dirty and on the bottle of water they will show mountains and beautiful scenery. Next, Nestle is taking 265 million liters of fresh British Columbia water every year to bottle and sell off around the world and it does not pay a penny. This doesn’t make sense as the world is in short supply of water and Nestle is taking it for free making a huge profit and selling it back to the customers. Nestle is

national identity, but most of the time, they represent the community’s own views. The way

The First Nations water issue made the UN and at least one NGO to get the attention of Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to focus on water issues for First Nations Canadian. The UN also reported that the First Nation doesn’t have proper water protocols. It results for the government to respect to economic rights to water and its cultural meaning for First Nations peoples. According to Vice News, the company Unique Foods Canada announced that they will give 30,000 of their vitamin-enriched water to Shoal Lake 40 and to other First Nations. The Chief of Six Nations said that the community was grateful for the donation, but Daryl Redsky of Shoal Lake 40 says it’s only a temporary solution for the problem. The First Nations peoples also

The Cree Indian prophecy stated that, Only when the last tree has been cut down, the last fish caught, and the last stream poisoned, will we realise we cannot eat money. Water is something in such abundance that is available to us at the turning of a faucet, so much that we tend to take it for granted and forget its global impact. We need to stand together and protect clean potable water when our watershed is being threatened. Water is our most precious resource, without it, life itself would seem to exist.

Canada should do a Better Job Protecting Its Water Supply Since the start of time human kind and all other living things on earth have been dependant on a clean and smooth flowing water supply. Water is an essential part of survival on earth and that has stood true since the start of time. As droughts around the world increase and areas turn in to “dust bowls” the demand of exportation of water from countries like Canada grows tremendously. Due to this I whole heartedly disagree with the topic and in fact encourage the Canadian government to send large bulks of water to areas of need.