Persistent chemical residues, blue-green algae, microplastics and the loss of wetlands, habitats and biodiversity: many are the threats to the health of Canada’s waters. Several regions of the country, including British Columbia and southern Quebec, are also struggling with water shortages exacerbated by drought conditions. From coast to coast, climate change is amplifying these different facets of the water crisis.
To overcome this, Canada will need to make significant investments in water infrastructure, and develop effective collaboration between federal, provincial, territorial and municipal governments, Indigenous communities and civil society.
During the last federal election, the government made an ambitious pledge: $1 billion to strengthen and expand the Freshwater Action Plan, a framework to protect and restore our freshwaters. So far, only 19.6 million have actually been granted to this plan. All levels of government will need to redouble their efforts to mitigate the risks and negative effects of degraded water quality.
By comparison, the United States takes the situation very seriously, having recognized clean water as one of the mainstays of its economy; they are currently investing 80 times more than Canada in this crisis, in particular to protect and restore the watersheds of the Great Lakes. The US federal government has also recently made clean water a cornerstone of its efforts to renew infrastructure and reduce inflation.
Its investments include more than US$12 billion to improve the resilience of infrastructure and water sources, US$5.6 billion to restore and preserve coastal and marine environments, almost US$5 billion to restore watersheds, and more than $14 billion to help farmers and other landowners protect wetlands, conserve water and reduce pollution. Canada must follow the example of its neighbor in order to ensure the health of its waters.
Faced with growing threats to the quality and availability of water in the country, the Canadian federal government must play a role and assume the leadership it must demonstrate by actively collaborating with provincial and territorial governments and Aboriginal peoples. Water management must become the priority of provincial infrastructure plans.
Municipalities must also be mobilized and supported, because they directly manage water supply and wastewater treatment services; they are at the forefront of climate adaptation. The federal government must set the tone by announcing a historic investment that will highlight the importance of clean waters to Canada’s long-term prosperity.
Healthy waters are a responsible and profitable investment that will enable Canada to create jobs, help achieve its habitat restoration and preservation objectives, raise public and tourist awareness of issues related to water, protect public health and maintain affordable access to water. We have a moral obligation to care for this globally important resource — an obligation our neighbors to the south now take very seriously.
For the future of the Canadian nation, healthy waters are essential. It will have a significant impact on our ability to adapt to climate change, national security issues and the needs of a growing population and economy. We call on the federal government to keep its promise and invest $1 billion over five years in the Freshwater Action Plan to protect one of Canada’s greatest resources: its waters.