Since the beginning, water has been observed as the premier source of life; which is why nowadays there are several organizations fighting to make water accessible to those who need it most, Water For Africa, is an example of an organization that strives to make potable water available in the underprivileged regions of Africa. Water, however, is a need even in developed countries, that’s why organizations like The Council of Canadians aid in the distribution of clean water to the indigenous population of Canada. Canada is seen as an aiding country by their humanitarian acts, but its dark secret is revealed thus the controversy of its federal government has been sprung. Canada promises and guarantees water accessibility as a human right to its …show more content…
citizens, except that this has been a controversy to the indigenous groups found in the North. These groups are exposed to a poor watershed infrastructure leading to contamination and health issues found among the communities. The controversy has been exposed and it is the duty of the Canadian federal government to realize their unequal treatment that is found among Canadians and indigenous groups and begin to aid indigenous groups properly concerning their water issues. Water is a human right, not a privilege. This water issue has been ongoing for more than a decade.
Canada is the country with the third most renewable freshwater, making up roughly seven per cent of the world’s renewable freshwater (The Council of Canadians, 2015, p.5). The cause for this unfortunate water crisis is found within the privatization of water and its distribution. Each province is in charge of distributing and funding for their water within the province. While the federal government provides funding for the First Nations communities and these communities are responsible for delivering the water back (White, J. P., Murphy, L., Spence, N., 2012). This type of distribution has shown to be ineffective to the First Nations community because of their poor watershed infrastructure that contain high levels of uranium (The Council of Canadians, 2015, p. 6). If the federal government funds these infrastructures, there shouldn’t be an issue with high chemical levels. Clearly, there is an …show more content…
issue. The federal government of Canada hasn’t shown an initiative to aid the First Nations communities concerning their tap water crisis. Council of Canadians argue that instead of facilitating public-private partnership they’re trading away human and environmental concerns, community employment, and local costs (The Council of Canadians, 2016). These companies would damage more the infrastructure in the watersheds and making water a luxury among these communities instead of a necessity by increases in price for profit. This demonstrates how the government is anti-indigenous groups by taking away their water needs in order to benefit from the ones who are able to afford them (S. Loopie., C. Reading., & S. de Leeuw., 2014). Two-thirds of all First Nation communities in Canada have been under at least one drinking water advisory in the last decade, and these numbers show that 400 out of 618 First Nations in the country had some kind of water problem between 2004 and 2014 (J.
Levasseur., & J. Marcoux., 2015). Water advisories are precaution measures that the federal or provincial government take when there are pipeline issues. These water advisories take place if there are pipe malfunctions, infiltration problems, and contamination with bacteria (ibid). This demonstrates the outrages water crisis found among the First Nation communities in Northern Canada due to how many times they’ve had to live under water boil advisories for more than a decade, live under stress by not trusting their tap water, and are forced to buy bottled water, which is a luxury to them. Not only has this caused stress among the First Nations communities, but 21 communities are deemed to be at high-risk for contamination (The Council of Canadians,
2016). This paper clarifies the issue occurring in Northern Canada within the First Nations communities. They’ve lived under water advisory for more than a decade because of levels of uranium, contamination, and poor watershed infrastructures. The way the federal government is structured to aid the First Nations communities hasn’t shown any effectiveness. This highlights the controversy the Canadian federal government has over its indigenous groups and the human rights acts by the privatization issues. The federal government reassures the effectiveness that privatization will have, but on the other side Council of Canadians beg to differ. This issue isn’t new and it has certainly developed over time. The Canadian federal government has reflected its preference to aid the citizen over the indigenous groups. However, they’re missing out the fact that these groups are also citizens of the nation and deserve equal attention to their water resources. Water is not a privilege, but a basic human right.
Humans need water. In a world that is overpopulated, we use a lot of water and other natural resources. Currently, in our world, clean water is getting scarce. Recently, for example, Flint, Michigan, had a water crisis. In early 2016, the water was discovered to be tainted with lead and other toxins. Long before that, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, and Governor Rick Snyder along with his council, knew about the lead, but to save money for the city of Flint in early 2014 Snyder had changed the city’s water source to the Flint River which had corroded pipes, causing people of all ages to be sick from the high amounts of lead
“Last Call at the Oasis” is a documentary about our world’s water crisis. The film discusses how many large cities in America are getting closer to use up their available water, how many areas across the globe do not have access to drinking water and are forced to drink contaminated water, how water shortages are causing acts of violence and are causing stress to agricultural communities, and a possible solution of using recycle water to stop us from wasting so much water. The film goes around the globe to talk to scientists who are studying contaminated water, people who have become very sick due to this water, and to the agricultural community in Australia where, unfortunately, some farmers have take their own lives due to water shortages.
Maude Barlow’s “Water Incorporated: The Commodification of the World’s Water” gives a voice to a very real but vastly unknown issue: the privatization of water. I refer to it as vastly unknown because it wasn’t until this article that I was even aware such a power struggle existed. Barlow first introduces startling statistics, meant to grab the attention of its reader. Once she has your attention, she introduces the “new generation of trade and investment agreements.” (306) This includes referencing many different acronyms such as, FTAA, NAFTA, GTAA and WWF. FTAA, NAFTA, and GTAA are the villains of this story. Simply put, the privatization of water would end in socioeconomic turmoil and dehydration worldwide.
There is also daily tasks of people trying washing fruits and vegetables. And not even being able to wash their hands. A quote from the michigan government says, “No one in Michigan or America should live that way in the 21st Century. But these generations of women, and so many more like them, do not trust the water coming out of their pipes.”(Interim Report). Many people is Flint have no trust in their government. They believe it’s all the governments fault because of this and it is. The people have to live a life of being scared of drinking their water, showering, and even washing their hands. No American in the United States should feel like this about their water system at all. For the people in Flint who have to look at brownish, stinky, funny-tasting water is just unacceptable and we need to make a change on this even though it has been out of hand for 3 years.
The industrialization of Canada is severely affecting the nations lakes, streams, and rivers. If something is not done to improve the situation it is going to have some severe environmental problems in its future. The following essay will be looking at the factors that cause pollution, and the effect that pollution has on the environment of Canada. It will also explore some of the methods used to treat and clean-up wastewater, and oil spills.
'Water pollution is any chemical, physical or biological change in the quality of water that has a harmful effect on any living thing that drinks or uses or lives(in) it. ' (Azeem 1). In Canada, most people live in the southern part along with many agricultural and industrial activities causing the worst cases of water pollution. Water pollution is caused by population growth and industrialization, but can be prevented if proper controls are taken into consideration to help reduce the discharge of waste materials. Water pollution has been a huge disadvantaging concern for humans as well as wildlife for over many decades, but can actually be prevented if attempted. Preventing waste materials from being dumped into lakes and rivers, controlling
“How can you buy or sell the sky-the warmth of the land? The idea is strange to us. Yet we do not own the freshness of air or the sparkle of the water. How can you buy them from us? We will decide in our time” (Chief Seattle: 1855). In the Documentary “Flow – for the love of water” it visualizes the global crisis we face on Mother’s Earth as it pertains to the diminishing of fresh water. The Documentary portrays along with the help of experts that this global crises is affecting each and every one of us in today’s society including animals. The film shows us that water is constantly being wasted, polluted, and privatized by big co operations. Prime examples of these greedy companies were mentioned in the film such as Nestle, Thames, Suez, Vivendi, Coca Cola and Pepsi.
The water crisis in Flint Michigan began as early as was as April of 2014. The crisis is concerning a small town called Flint, located at the bottom right of michigan were the majority of the population is African American. The issue began when the town 's water supply witch in past use to come from the detroit river water supply was switched over to the Flint river water supply. People soon began to complain about the taste, smell, and color of the tap water, and of symptoms such as hair loss and rashes from bathing in the water. Even though there were many signs that the water was indeed contaminated, such as when a General Motors plant in Flint stopped using municipal water in October of 2014, claiming that it corroded car parts, the government officials stated that the water was not a threat to the public 's health and safety. However it was later revealed that the water was in fact unhealthy, and contained too much lead. The issue was brought to the eyes of the public when Lee Anne Walters, a Flint resident. This mother of four had seen her family suffer from various alarming symptoms, including abdominal pains, hair loss, and rashes; she also has a son who showed signs of developmental problems. She decided to switch her family to bottled water, and the symptoms abated. Finally, in February of 2015, she demanded that the city test the tap water. A federal investigation was launched and the results came back shocking. The water was extremely toxic containing 400 parts per billion of lead. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), there is no safe level of lead in drinking water, but the maximum allowed by law is 15 parts per billion. Virginia Tech professor and engineer Marc Edwards, an expert on municipal w...
In the documentary, Blue Gold: World Water Wars, it follows several people and countries world-wide in their fight for fresh water. The film exposes giant corporations as they bully poorer developing countries to privatize their own supply of fresh water. As a result of the privatization, corporations make a hefty profit while the developing countries remain poor. Blue Gold: World Water Wars also highlights the fact that Wall Street investors are going after the desalination process and mass water export schemes. This documentary also shows how people in more developed nations are treating the water with much disregard, and not taking care of our finite supply. We are polluting, damming, and simply wasting our restricted supply of fresh water at an alarming speed. The movie also recognizes that our quick overdevelopment of housing and agriculture puts a large strain on our water supply and it results in desertification throughout the entire earth. The film shows how people in more industrialized nations typically take water for granted, while others in less industrialized nations have to fight for every drop.
Then the documentary tackles Puget Sound. The Duwamish River is the largest hot spot in the nation. In 2001, the Duwamish River was classified as a “Super Fund” site. This is given to a site that will receive federal assistance for clean up. But yet, it may be too late. Puget Sound in contaminated with PCP, lead and mercury. The threat comes from the giant industrial polluters of old and from chemicals in consumers’ face creams, deodorants, prescription medicines and household cleaners that find their way into sewers, storm drains, eventually into America’s waterways and drinking water.
cares for the well being of the people. All of these issues present today are mostly portrayed
"Water Pollution." Current Issues: Macmillan Social Science Library. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 5 May 2014.
"Water Crisis." World Water Council. 7th World Water Council, 2012. Web. 18 Nov. 2013. http://www.worldwatercouncil.org/library/archives/water-crisis/
Freshwater is quite scarce, but it is even scarcer than one might think: about seventy percent of all freshwater is frozen in the icecaps of Antarctica and Greenland and is unavailable to humans. Most of the remainder is present as soil moisture or lies in deep underground aquifers as groundwater. It is not economically feasible to extract this waster for use as drinking water. This leaves less than one percent of the world’s fresh water that is available to humans. It includes the water found in lakes, reservoirs, groundwater that is shallow enough to be tapped at an affordable cost. These freshwater sources are the only sources that are frequently replenished by rain and snowfall, and therefore are renewable. At the current rates of consumption, however, this supply of fresh water will not last. Pollution and contamination of freshwater sources exacerbate the problem, further reducing the amount of freshwater available for human consumption. Something must be done if humans want to even survive in the near future: the lack of clean drinking water is already the number one cause of disease in the world today. The first step is worldwide awareness of the water crisis: governments and the citizens they govern worldwide need to know about this problem and be actively involved in solving this problem.
One main causes of water scarcity is water mismanagement worldwide. Water mismanagement has become a crisis of governance that will impact heavily ...