There is an increasing…

There is an increasing demand and diminishing supply of freshwater sources in Canada and around the world. We need much stronger, more permanent protection for all sources of freshwater.

We have submitted the following letter and informational resources today, July 31, 2025, to Premier Ford, Cabinet Ministers, and our local MPPs.

Dear
Honourable Doug Ford, Premier of Ontario, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs
Honourable Todd J. McCarthy, Minister of Environment, Conservation, and Parks
Honourable Trevor Jones, Minister of Agriculture, Food, and Agribusiness
Honourable Mike Harris, Minister of Natural Resources
Honourable Greg Rickford, Minister of Indigenous Affairs and First Nations Economic Reconciliation, Minister Responsible for Ring of Fire Economic and Community Partnerships
Honourable Peter Bethlenfalvy, Minister of Finance
Honourable Lisa Thompson, Minister of Rural Affairs
Honourable Stephen Lecce, Minister of Energy and Mines
Honourable Jill Dunlop, Minister of Emergency Preparedness and Response
Honourable Victor Fedeli, Chair of Cabinet, Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation, and Trade
Honourable George Pirie, Minister of Northern Economic Development and Growth
Honourable Kevin Holland, Associate Minister of Forest and Forest Products
Honourable Rob Flack MPP Elgin-Middlesex-London, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing
Steve Pinsonneault MPP Lambton-Kent-Middlesex, Parliamentary Assistant to Minister of Emergency Preparedness and Response and Minister of Rural Affairs
Teresa Armstrong MPP London-Fanshawe
Terence Kernaghan MPP London North Centre
Peggy Sattler MPP London West

We are the Blue Communities committee from London, Ontario and we are writing to provide you with crucial information in the attached research document from ProPublica, “The Drying Planet”. 1.
The researchers have clearly shown the need for prioritized measures to protect and maintain our global water and food supply, and promote climate, environmental, economic and societal stability.

The research also shows that we need a much more rapid transition to clean, renewable energy solutions to help our life-supporting atmosphere, which has become severely polluted by greenhouse gas emissions, primarily from our decades of prolonged reliance on energy from the production and burning of fossil gases.

“The Drying Planet” shows the rapid onslaught of drought conditions in Canada and around the world from planetary heating, which is being worsened by unmitigated corporate water-taking and pumped drainage of large volumes of water from groundwater aquifers, and both situations are threatening our already scarce supply of global freshwater.

It is extremely concerning that people, animals, and all of nature in Canada and around the world, are already trying to survive the global heating catastrophes of drought, wildfires, air pollution, killing heat waves, flooding, severe, unpredictable storms, and rising ocean levels. A local vegetable farmer said yesterday that his soil is a dry powder. The sight of thirsty crops is obvious.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned us of the drought conditions of global heating and the increasing threat of freshwater insecurity. Groundwater aquifers are now at extreme risk of depletion and take thousands of years to replenish. Large volume water takings for non-essential, profit-driven, commodified water bottling threaten future water supplies, ecosystem health and wetland viability, agricultural resilience and food security. (Wellington Water Watchers) 2.

Water is Life. We respectfully request governmental policies that recognize water as a human right and a necessity of life, available to all, and not as a privatized, profiteering commodity.

We also expect our government leaders to uphold the duty to consult with Indigenous Nations, fully respecting UNDRIP, Free, Prior, and Informed Consent, and treaty and inherent rights. If we listen to Indigenous people and learn from their knowledge, experience, and wisdom, we will learn about lasting solutions that will protect water, food, nature, ecosystems, people, plants, and animals.

The Blue Communities International project works to protect water as a human right for all, and not a privatized, profit-driven commodity taken from the water sources and watersheds of communities. 3.

Municipalities and First Nations communities with reliable public drinking water and wastewater infrastructures receive the Blue Community designation by making three resolutions or pledges that:
1. Recognize water and wastewater sanitation as human rights.
2. Ban or phase out the sale of bottled water in municipal facilities and at municipal events.
3. Promote publicly financed, owned and operated water and wastewater systems.

Blue Community Schools join towns and cities, Indigenous communities, universities, and faith-based communities around the world, and for their Blue Community designation they take these three pledges to:
1. Educate about water and the need to protect it.
2. Recognize the human rights to clean water and sanitation.
3. Ban or phase out the sale of water at schools where clean tap water is available. 4.

We hope that our government leaders will consider the research findings of ProPublica and protect our water and food security. We also hope our government will know about Canadians experiences, concerns, and desires for more collective, rapid implementation of the preventative and restorative solutions for climate change mitigation and adaptation. We really depend on climate, nature and environmental protection to survive and thrive. We hope our leaders in Canada and countries around the world will expedite emergency policies, regulations, and solutions that will protect the inextricable linkage of global water and food supply and stop the dual existential threats of global heating and freshwater scarcity.

Thank you very much for your courageous dedication to the responsibility of governance to serve and protect the people of Ontario and Canada, and our country’s amazing, beautiful, and irreplaceable nature.

Resources:
1. “The Drying Planet” ProPublica
Global Water Supplies Threatened by Overmining of Aquifers: New Study — ProPublica
2. Water Watchers
3. Blue Communities – The Council of Canadians
4. Home - Blue Community Schools

Sincerely,
Gloria Monteith, Ilderton, Ontario N0M 2A0 monteithgloria@icloud.com,
Representing The Blue Community Committee, London Chapter, the Council of Canadians