CUPE Alberta Recognizes World Water Day March 22, 2015

“Water is a precious public resource that must be kept public and protected,” CUPE Alberta President Marle Roberts said in honour of World Water Day, taking place Sunday March 22.

“Water is one of Canada’s greatest resources,” Roberts said. “But federal and provincial governments are trying to shift ownership and responsibility for our water to the private sector.”

“That has to stop,” Roberts said.

The federal and Alberta governments have aggressively targeted municipal water and wastewater systems for privatization through public-private partnerships. The federal government is even offering P3 subsidies to municipalities through a crown corporation devoted to promoting P3s.

At the same time, federal environmental protections for lakes, rivers, and streams have been removed, partly to streamline oil reserve exploitation.

“Water is a human right,” Roberts said. “Together, we will work for well-funded public water and wastewater systems across Alberta.”

“Let us celebrate future World Water Days with the knowledge that we’ve kept our water resources public and publicly protected,”

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Marle Roberts, CUPE Alberta Division President
Contact: (780) 918-3061
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