Whereas the United Nations Human Rights Council has recognized that access to safe water and sanitation are human rights, and that these are directly tied to human health outcomes;
Whereas gaps in regulations leave many rural Ontarians without water protection and over a dozen communities in Ontario without access to safe drinking water, many of which are Indigenous communities;
Whereas privatization of municipal water and sanitation services turns water into a commodity to be sold for profit and reduces quality, transparency, and accountability while increasing health, social, and financial costs to citizens;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT RNAO build upon existing partnerships with Indigenous partners and collaborate with other partners engaged in water protection to lobby the federal and Ontario governments to secure the right to safe water and sanitation for all, including securing processes that support sustainable public funding for water infrastructure, public ownership of water utilities, and enhanced protections against pollution and over-extraction for the ongoing sustainable provision of safe drinking water and sanitation for every resident in Ontario.
