This is Nestle with…

This is Nestle with different branding. It would hardly be a surprise if the same group of wealthy shareholder and their corporate lawyers were behind this permit application as well.

Dozens of First Nations communities across Canada have not had access to safe drinking water for at least a year, and yet BlueTriton wants to pump clean water from Indigenous lands and bottle it for profit?

Even if this weren't the case, and indigenous communities had reliable access to clean drinking water, it is still short sighted to provide this permit. Bottled water companies create massive amounts of waste particularly in the form of various kinds of plastics, be they in landfill from ineffectual recycling programs or microplastics that have invaded every aspect of our environment. Bottled water companies also consume an unacceptable amount of energy during production, and produce an unnecessary amount of greenhouse gasses in every step including transportation and distribution.

In 2002, the United Nations officially adopted water as a human right. General Comment 15, of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights states the following: “The human right to water entitles everyone to sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic uses.” This means that the 145 countries who have endorsed the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights have to ensure fair and equal access to safe drinking water.

The government is obliged to ensure that people can enjoy their basic human rights. Part of the government’s duty is to protect this right, by preventing third party interference. For drinking water, this may involve the establishment of legislation that prohibits manufacturing companies from privatizing the supply. Even developed countries have not had good results when a company privatizes the water. In the 1980s, the British water system was privatized. In the first five years, 18,636 households had their water supply cut off because they could not afford the price of water, which had increased by more than 50 percent.

In short, I request that you not only deny this permit but create legislation that would severely limit if not entirely eliminate the number of permits granted to bottled water companies from now on.

People over Profits.

Water is Sacred.

Deny The Permit.