I certainly want the…

I certainly want the moratorium extended for an additional year, at least. I would prefer a ban on extraction of water for single use bottling in Ontario and Canada as a whole. We need to exert a strong precautionary principle in approaching water extraction for water bottling and all commercial uses. This is for two specific reasons. First, we have already wastefully used and polluted so much potable fresh water available in Ontario and Canada that we should preserve carefully the remaining reserves we have to sustain human life and the ecosystems they depend on. Secondly, the unpredictable effects of encroaching climate change make it absolutely necessary to ban extraction for water bottling (read: corporate profit) as we do not know how precarious our water security will become as droughts and forest forest emerge as common throughout Ontario in the summers. Extending the moratorium is the first step in creating strong leadership in protecting water resources in an increasingly chaotic future. It is also the first step in protecting human life and all life.

It is also crucial to recognize that extending the moratorium aids in protecting water for the Six Nations of the Grand River and other First Nations communities. Households within the Six Nations of the Grand River do not have universal access to potable water. This is whole incommensurate with permitting Nestlé to extract water for sale. Stop to consider the consequences of this for a moment. This is an opportunity to recognize this injustice (read: environmental racism) and to bring justice. The next step will be to fully support the people in this community (financially and politically) to gain universal, sustainable access to potable water. Allowing water extraction permits for bottling water supports the life of corporations, not the public and the electorate.

Finally, extending the moratorium is a decisive first step in acknowledging the importance of integrated water management between municipalities, counties and the province. This is crucial, as a majority of many communities–especially Hillsburgh, Guelph and Elora where water extraction would happen–are heavily opposed to this extraction and the wait that it would compromise their imperative to develop in decades and centuries to come. We must think this far ahead if we want to contribute to the survival of these communities and the human species. This is not exclusive to water, even though water is the most crucial pillar of human survival. Water enables agriculture and the economy at large, two other major pillars of sustainable communities of humanity all over the world. Extending the moratorium is the first step in ensuring that our economy and our agriculture–ever dependent on water–are protected in an integrated fashion with our water security.

Extend the moratorium for an additional year. Then use this year to develop the necessary means of installing a permanent ban on extraction for water bottling across Ontario. The future of our children and our communities dependent on it. Not to mention the future of all governments seeking re-election.