GLIN==> Press release: Failures to implement a federal water strategy puts Canada’s water at risk

It is my pleasure to provide you with the inaugural edition of the FLOW
Monitor: Canadian Water Policy Watch - a regular bulletin that provides
independent commentary and information on key water events and issues. To
download, go to http://www.flowcanada.org/policy/monitor.

MEDIA RELEASE
For Immediate Release
Thursday, October 22, 2009

*Failures to implement a federal water strategy puts Canada’s water at risk
*
The Federal government has made well over a dozen attempts to articulate a
new water strategy over the past twenty years. It has failed every time.
Recent public opinion surveys have found that Canadians consider water to be
this country’s most important natural resource. The continuing lack of
national-level leadership on this critical issue is therefore deeply
concerning.

A chronology of aborted efforts to implement a forward-thinking federal
water strategy is featured in a new report released today, FLOW Monitor:
Canadian Water Policy Watch. This report, compiled by an independent group
of water experts from across Canada, reveals a troubling pattern of failure
on the part of the federal government to protect Canada’s most important
resource. The most recent commitment was made in the Federal government’s
Speech from the Throne two years ago. Earlier this year, the
Auditor-General’s Office noted that negligible progress has been made on
implementing this strategy.

“It is clear from the numerous attempts to develop a water strategy that the
Federal government has acknowledged the importance of water but it is
unclear why none of these efforts have ever been converted into an actual
strategy,” said Jim Bruce, co-chair of the Forum for Leadership on Water
(FLOW). “Perhaps it is lack of political will, or the difficulty of building
consensus between federal departments, or the fear of stepping into
provincial jurisdiction. Whatever the reason, it is clear that Canadians are
unwilling to wait another 20 years for comprehensive action at the national
level.”

A recent Nanos-Policy Options public survey found that Canadians consider
the adoption of a federal water strategy to be the top priority for
addressing Canada’s fresh water challenges.

“Canada is facing mounting challenges to the security of fresh water,
including global warming, increasing water demands, worsening pollution of
rivers and lakes, and an unacceptable number of communities that lack access
to safe drinking water,” says Ralph Pentland, primary author of the report
and former director of Environment Canada’s Water Planning and Management
Branch. “A federal strategy would signal that governments consider water
protection to be a national priority and would help ensure we have enough
clean water to keep Canadians healthy, to grow food, to support economic
prosperity and keep our rivers flowing.”

FLOW urges the Federal government and all parliamentarians to work together
to meet the commitment to develop a new national water strategy. Our
nation’s most important natural resource depends on it.

FLOW has released a comprehensive blueprint for federal action on water,
called Changing the Flow. Changing the Flow sets out clear federal
constitutional and legal responsibilities for water, 7 priority policy areas
and 25 recommended actions to reignite the federal role in protecting fresh
water. It is available at www.flowcanada.org.


*Contacts*
Nancy Goucher
FLOW Program Coordinator
nancy at flowcanada.org
647-891-0338
www.flowcanada.org
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