I fully support a permanent…

I fully support a permanent moratorium on new water bottling permits and non-renewal of existing ones (upon expiry) for the following reasons:

1.Global corporations like Nestle are given access to our precious groundwater resources virtually for free when you compare the obscenely low fees for water taking to the retail price of bottled water.
2. As the effects from climate change worsen including more frequent and longer droughts, ground water taking should be curtailed to minimize harm to our freshwater ecosystems.
3. The bottling industry has a large carbon footprint related to the manufacture of plastic bottles and transport/distribution of bottled water (a non-vital industry in my view with significant carbon emissions) .
4. The industry in Canada exacerbates the problem of plastic pollution through the millions of plastic bottles and reams of plastic wrap that it uses every year.