In a province with abundant water resources, not to mention 3 percent of the world's fresh water, "water quantity isn't so much the problem, but water quality is," says Caroline Perron, co-ordinator of Eau Secours!, a Quebec-wide coalition and water watchdog group.

Since 1997, when municipal water resources were almost sold off to a French multinational, Eau Secours! has fought attempts to privatize Quebec's "blue gold." They have also tirelessly brought attention to many threats to water access and quality, including various forms of pollution, the pillaging of fresh groundwater by the bottled water industry, the mass exportation of water and the St-Laurent Seaway's consistently decreasing water level.

Today, the water coalition boasts 1,800 volunteer members, 262 groups and 80 spokespeople, including volunteers, artists, scientists and citizen committees. Although they get a small grant from the province, says Perron, the coalition relies entirely on donations and their upcoming benefit concert to operate.

According to Perron, the municipal elections were another missed opportunity to discuss important issues like our crumbling water infrastructure and how to deal with the fallout from the water meter scandal. "We asked all the mayoral candidates what they will do on the water dossier and what are their projects. Only Projet Montréal answered... They were the most up to date on the environmental question."

The Nov. 8 Eau Secours! Benefit Concert at Théâtre Corona (2490 Notre-Dame W.), 7:30 p.m., features the talents of Raôul Duguay, Claire Pelletier, Le Vent du Nord, Forestare and Brigitte Saint-Aubin, as well as a water fable by storyteller Simon Gauthier.




 
 

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Capital Investment in and reform of municipal water is the ultimate "soplution."     Please review www.provincialwaterservices.com. That site is intended to stimulate discussion about the needs and the means of reform the "traditional" municipal government control and management of public water delivery. It is clear that manpower and asset productivities of municipal water utilities, needs to be increased through changes in the ways municipalities manage and harness the assets to secure capital on greatly improved terms for renewals and extension of water delivery infrastructures. Far less reliance has to be achieved on tax revenues to fund the C$billions required over the next few years, to secure water supplies, reduce the costs, replace and extend delivery pipelines and increase productivities of both manpower and assets. No! None of this is about privatisation of municipal water utilities. The fact is that the present structures and processes for managing public water supplies to all ratepayers, throughout most of Canada, cannot and should not continue as it has been for almost over 100 years. If it does, how is the capital to be raised without increasing taxes, to pay for the vitally needed replacements and extensions of water delivery infrastructures, throughout all Canada?
Gerald R. Marriott		November 8th, 2009

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