watermatters

September 2010

• Right to Clean Water – Why No Support from Canada?

  Tuesday, September 28th, 2010

  On July 28, 2010 the nations of the world made an historic commitment recognizing that every human on earth has a right to clean water and sanitation. It is embarassing that Canada was not one of the 122 countries that voted in favour of the United Nations resolution. Bolivia’s ambassador proposed the new convention that will hopefully weaken market-driven corporate control of water and empower local communities around the world to hold sway over their own water quality, use and supply.

  Water shortage has become desperate.

  Competition for water is heating up. Global demand is predicted to exceed supply by more than 40% by 2030. Meanwhile another child dies every 8 seconds due to lack of access to decent water. Three billion people around the globe have no running water within a kilometre of their homes.

  Canada’s subterfuge: what’s the real agenda?

  The right to water is fundamental. Why does Canada continue to be a leading opponent? Tellingly, the U.S., Britain and Australia were among the other obstructionist nations. Canadian officials are disguising their real agenda behind false ‘concerns’ that this new U.N. convention might force Canada to share its water with the US. (These same officials support NAFTA and the proposed CETA which are the real threat to Canada’s water, potentially giving American and European corporations control of our water.)

  The new UN resolution does not oblige Canada to provide water to any other country, only to its own citizens! This means cleaning up its act in First Nations communities where water quality is substandard and sometimes lethal.

  Privatization versus publicly-controlled water

  Privatization of water resources has proven disastrous, as evidenced in Argentina, Bolivia, the Philippines and the U.S. The allocation of a resource as fundamental as water is misplaced in the hands of market-driven decision-makers.

  Although many publicly-owned utilities are also failing to provide safe water, the governance of water remains the responsibility of the local public.  The fast growing pressures of water shortages must force the potentially painful maturation of this responsibility.

  Posted in The Future of Water

• watermatters Featured In Article About Building Your Business On Trust

  Friday, September 24th, 2010

  watermatters is featured in today’s article “Creating Your Company & Marketing Process Built On Trust” written and published by the Women’s Enterprise Centre in collaboration with Trustmode Marketing, as part of an educational series on marketing for women entrepreneurs.

  The article points out that marketing is based on the relationship a business builds with its potential buyers and that the foundation of that relationship is trust. watermatters is the business used to demonstrate this principle.

  ‘Five and a half years ago, when Mary Johnston, owner of watermatters in Vancouver was planning to sell water treatment devices from her home, she realized that she knew very little about the local water she was intending to improve, so how could a customer trust what she was selling? Johnston says, “This moment of insight established the defining niche for my business. I started educating myself on what makes Vancouver’s water unique and soon became an expert in my field. There are no other businesses who address local water from the bottom up, the way I do.” Read the full article here.

  Posted in News & Initiatives

• World Rivers Day – September 26th

  Tuesday, September 14th, 2010

  This is a global event started here in British Columbia.
  ‘The growing interest in World Rivers Day, now coordinated by the Rivers Institute at the British Columbia Institute of Technology, is very timely in that rivers around the globe are facing increasing pressures, ranging from urbanization and pollution to the building of dams and the excessive extraction of water. Climate change is also increasingly taking its toll on many rivers. If events like Rivers Day can help to profile these issues while also engaging the public and creating an even greater appreciation of the many values of our waterways, then it can only be positive.’

  In British Columbia, ‘many of our Rivers Day events this year will focus on the recent return of 34 million sockeye salmon to the Fraser River; our biggest run in 97 years. After several years of poor returns and lots of disappointment, we now have something to celebrate. And while many challenges and threats to our rivers and fish stocks remain ahead, this year’s magnificent salmon return offers a glimmer of hope’.

  Read more about local World Rivers Day events and a recent article in National Geographic written by the event’s founder, Mark Angelo of the Rivers Institute at the British Columbia Institute of Technology.

  Posted in News & Initiatives, The Future of Water

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