Last spring, the Minister of the Environment and the Fight Against Climate Change, Benoit Charette, introduced Bill 42 to revise water royalties. Dead on the order paper, this minimalist bill will be replaced by a much more ambitious text as soon as the next parliamentary session opens.
The royalties paid by the companies that draw water from the rivers, rivers or lakes of Quebec, if not quite simply the drinking water treated by the municipalities, are “ridiculous”, stated quite rightly Benoit Charette in a interview with The duty. “It’s nonsense. »
During his visit to COP15 in Montreal, François Legault announced the creation of the Blue Fund, endowed with a maximum of 150 million per year and largely financed by new water royalties. The new bill will not be limited to royalties: it will aim more generally at “the protection of water”, indicated the Prime Minister in a press release. He noted that Quebec had received in 2021 only $ 3 million in royalties for water withdrawals of 811 billion liters. A misery.
Last May, the Court of Quebec ruled in favor of water bottlers such as Amaro, Pepsi, Coca-Cola and Naya by confirming a decision by the Commission d’accès à l’information. The organization had judged that the data on the volumes that these companies draw in Quebec, data which are known to the ministry, are of a confidential nature and come under commercial secrecy. The Minister indicated that the bill would circumvent this opacity in order to make this essential information public. Not only are bottled water multinationals targeted, but also industrial water consumption.
Water is not inexhaustible, had argued the Quebec Center for Environmental Law and the organization Eau Secours before the court, a fact that highlights the warming of the climate. Last year, some municipalities, particularly in Montérégie and Estrie, were affected by water shortages. It’s only a beginning. In a report on the regional repercussions of climate change, the Ouranos consortium predicts episodes of sharp drops in water levels that are both more severe and longer, a phenomenon that risks affecting the availability of drinking water and its quality. .
With its Blue Fund, the CAQ government intends to fight against invasive aquatic species, clean up river banks, reinforce vegetation in riparian strips and bring septic tanks up to standard. It should also ensure that wastewater from all municipalities is treated before being discharged into the rivers. And that’s not to mention the pollution caused by intensive agriculture.
When it comes to water protection, Quebecers go a long way and often show a disconcerting casualness. The state of many of our lakes is worrying and several of our rivers are in bad shape.
We have to hold on to water like the apple of our eyes. Possessing 3% of the fresh water reserves of the planet is a great privilege of which we are not sufficiently aware. It is also, in front of the world, an immense responsibility that falls to us.