Change the World

Recognizing the Human Right to Water: A Canadian Concern? (Draft paper)

David Morgan, Recognizing the Human Right to Water (16 November 2010)

Email from Francis Scarpaleggia (Liberal MP and water critic)

Dear Mr. Morgan,

Thank you for your questions about the Liberal Caucus' position on the human right to water.  I very much appreciate your writing to me on this vital issue.

Water is one of the Liberal Caucus’ key policy priorities.  In 2005, I founded the National Liberal Water Caucus as a vehicle for Liberal M.P.s and Senators to give policy focus to water.  (Maude Barlow of the Council of Canadians has in fact been a guest speaker at the caucus where she addressed the issue of the human right to water.)  Moreover, in 2007, through a motion tabled in the House of Commons, I called on the Conservative government to create a national water strategy, something the government has failed to do.  Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff, however, has said that a Liberal government will create and implement a national water strategy.

Rights or Wrongs? Canada and International Human Rights

 

 

A Public Workshop with UBC Graduate Students

Gulf Islands Secondary School, Multipurpose Room, January 8 & 9, 2011 

Saturday, January 8:

2:30-2:45 PM Introduction and Welcomes

David Morgan: Recognizing the human right to water – Does Canada even care?

Introduction

• This paper will argue that by opposing the recognition of water as an international human right, Canada is not only obstructing a rights-based approach to the provision of water in developing countries, it is preventing this approach within its own borders. While this recognition is not, by itself, a solution to the growing issue of water scarcity, it will place a legal and moral obligation on the government to improve the basic availability of safe drinking water for all Canadians

The International Human Right to Water; Why Canada Should Care

Group Project (Abstract and Goals):

Based on our findings over the course of our independent research, our group will make an informed argument as to whether or not Canada should recognize the international human right to water. The recognition of this right could imply that governments must ensure access to safe water for drinking, food preparation and sanitation, for their own citizens and potentially for those of other countries; that water sources are protected from contamination and over-use; and that water is declared as a public trust and delivered as a public service on a not-for-profit basis.

Inherent in our recommendation will be a discussion on the implications, both domestically as well as within the international community, of Canada’s recognition of this right and the motivations currently driving the country’s continued opposition to this concept.* This may include potential financial gains from the privatization of Canada’s water resources, the responsibility to provide bulk exports of water to countries in need, the obligations to provide First Nations communities with access to clean water and current water usage in the Alberta Tar Sands project. 

Our academically-supported recommendation could take the shape of a draft private member’s bill, outlining the argument in support of Canada’s recognition of the international human right to water.

*In a recent vote in the UN General Assembly, Canada abstained from a resolution recognizing “the right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation as a human right”. 

David Morgan: Water as an international human right - Will it make a difference? Does Canada even care?

    In recent years, there has been a growing realization of a looming ‘global water crisis’. Numerous factors – pollution, rapid industrialization and urbanization, intensive agricultural practices, and an expanding global population – have increasingly strained the world’s fresh water resources. Consequently, the number of people living without access to clean water and basic sanitation is rising on a daily basis. On July 28, 2010, the United Nations General Assembly approved a resolution recognizing “the right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation as a human right” (p. 2), highlighting the urgency of this crisis. Although this resolution is not legally binding for signatories, it entails a greater focus on justice and equality in the provision of water and opens the door to a future covenant on water as an international human right. Despite the potential of this movement, the Canadian government has become one of its leading opponents. This raises several important questions. Will the recognition of water as an international human right make any difference in its provision? If so, why is the Canadian government staunchly opposing this movement? This paper will explore these research questions, focusing on the debate regarding privatization and rights-based strategies, and the Canadian government’s opposition to the latter approach.