by secret Leveller columnists
The debate concerning water privatization continues in Ontario this year, as Premier Wendy McSplash announces this quarter’s drinking water price hike of $0.54 per litre. With the price of water reaching an all-time high, many families are wondering where they will get their next sip.
Since the Water Wars of 2045–2049, Canadian water supplies have been in hot demand internationally. While there are other forms of water on the market, many consumers are worried about the quality of water derived from rain catchers, desalination plants and so-called “synthetic water.”
“With the amount of acid rain we see these days, I worry about the long-term impact on my rain catcher supplies on my children’s health,” says Bartholomew Baker, a long-term resident of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. “In my grandmother’s days, Dartmouth used to be called the City of Lakes! Not a day goes by that I don’t wish my ancestors had just listened to the Water Protectors.”
Nova Scotia’s groundwater reserves were permanently compromised after an enormous accident involving underground carbon storage, led by Alton Gas, in 2025.
Recent deregulation of public filtration plants and the prevalence of The Water Store across Canada have further deepened the debate on whether for-profit water is in fact helping to both improve the quality of water and its accessibility to those that are left to mostly rely on recycling their own waste water.
Shortages from public sources of non-contaminated fresh water have been cited as the reason for the new price, though some say it’s due to the further leasing of public waters to private corporations. Many thought that the government’s implementation of heavy tariffs on the export of water would help, but a recent study found that free trade agreements and poorly negotiated fixed prices with our largest importers have negated that claim.
“People just can’t afford to work 10 hours a day to just get by with enough water for the family, not knowing if the price is going to go up again tomorrow,” said Ted Jarvis, a father of three who recently opted for Remote Work at his government job in Ottawa to move to Northern Québec. “Lots of people I know are planning on making the move. The Water Store is full of bad water and the subsidized water at the WCBO is now rationed to 3 liters per person in your family, hardly enough to make the long lines worth it.”
The Minister of Water, Charles Berdo, said the government has been working closely with water providers to find better ways to supply water to urban areas. When asked why he was caught washing his car when water was in such short supply, he responded, “It’s a question of national dignity. You can’t have your ministers driving around in dirty cars trying to fix the crisis the Millennial generation left us.” Berdo was seen later that evening at a bar on Sparks Street, buying shots of water with cabinet colleague Loretta Lestate.
This article first appeared in the Leveller Vol. 9, No. 6 (Spring 2017).
