At a meeting on March 18 in Mexico City, with representatives of three Canadian civil society organizations - Development and Peace, the Council of Canadians and the Canadian Union of Public Employees - the seven person Canadian government delegation attending the 1V World Water Forum said they would not be taking a stand on water as a human right. They defended Canada´s failure to sign on to the General Comment No. 15 of the United Nations International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) that would make water a human right, stating that Canada voted against a procedure, not the right to water in Geneva in 2002. ¨We are not against the right to water said Nicole Ladouceur, head of the Canadian government delegation to the World Water Forum. ¨Water is a very fundamental right. I assure you we will give full consideration to the issue and all of its angles.

Sandy Gibbons, of St. John´s, Newfoundland, a spokesperson for Development and Peace, presented the organization´s declaration of water principles and linked them with the core values of Canadians. He asked the government to look at water policy, present and future, from the viewpoint of such core values as respect for the person, human dignity and well-being, democracy and a just society. ¨Life must come before profit,¨ he said.

Madame Ladouceur recognized that Canada has an abundance of water resources and that it is not alone in the world. She said that the current World Water Forum attempts to place more emphasis on capacity building in agriculture and climate change. She recognizes that ¨water needs to be more than just an economic good¨ and that the World Water Forum is a perfect opportunity to meet with colleagues to make sure we are on the right track. ¨We are starting to get our heads around the water issue,¨she said.

Isabelle Lavoie, animator of Development and Peace in Eastern Quebec, stated, ¨We are asking for total public, democratic and participatory management of water utilities, not partial management such as Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs). We are reiterating that Canada must be much more critical of the role the World Bank is playing,¨ she said.

Frank Mentes of the 540,000 Canadian Union of Public Employees said, ¨We know how water privatization is promoted ïnternationally by the large corporations and how it is hurting our brothers and sisters around the globe.¨ Maude Barlow of the Council of Canadians pointed out that the World Water Council, the sponsor of the World Water Forum represents the interests of the large water corporations. ¨This Forum, therefore, cannot be treated as a United Nations forum. She stated that in a Council of Canadians poll, 98% of Canadians supported water as a human right.

Madam Ladouceur also stated that the Canadian delegation does not view the World Water Forum as a United Nations forum. There won´t be any negotiations in Mexico City; instead, they will start in Geneva and the federal government will consult with the provincial governments and some Canadian organizations. The Canadian delegation insisted that the government understands the notion of water as a human right and that the World Water Forum will not issue a policy statement. It will be a declaration, a political statement declaring that it is important to move forward on water in line with follow-up on the Millennium Development Goals.

Steve Shrybman, a lawyer with the Council of Canadians questioned why Canada would worry about the right to water threatening its sovereignty, a point raised by the Canadian delegation. Shrybman stated that the door is left open through trade agreements. Water is very hard to defend under the Investor State Clause of NAFTA because the way NAFTA is written makes protection of water difficult. The civil society representatives clarified that we are talking about water in its natural state. Canada has to stop its ¨head in the sand¨ approach to water and embrace the marginalized people of the world. They insisted to the government representatives that we are talking about the commercial export of water, giving it over to corporate hands. They stated that we are stretching the definition of the right to water if we say that another country can take it. If Canada sticks to the provisions of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights we should have no difficulty defending our position. The civil society representatives said that Canada is effectively stating that there is no right to water. It doesn’t exist. Canada does not accept the right to water. At this stage only Canada and the US oppose the right to water. This is an unfortunate situation, they said.

Ladouceur´s delegation insisted that Canada was always clear that water in its natural state is not part of the free trade agreements and there will be no bulk removal of water from the Great Lakes. In 2002, the Government of Canada prohibited the sale of bulk water exports through an agreement signed with the provinces, and furthermore, bulk water exports were banned that year in the International Boundaries Treaty.

Anne Marie Jackson of Development and Peace questioned the government´s concern about national sovereignty, stating that the Right to Food is enshrined in the UN Declaration on Human Rights and Canada supports that right. Canada´s only obligation under the Covenant is to provide for the rights of its own citizens and that´s all.

Government repeated that the right to water has to be created. Canada will be coming before the Committee in Geneva within a year on the right to water and sanitation. It has to have a position before then.

Nicole Ladouceur admitted that we need to place the Right to Water squarely on the table. We will have to turn this thing on its head in every direction and see what it means.¨ The government delegation admitted that Canada has to get to the bottom of the water situation. Something so fundamental as the right to water has to be placed on the table internationally and spelled out as a particular issue.

Anne Marie Jackson reminded those present that while we are talking about the situation, people are dying because millions of people on the ground do not have clean water. ¨Keep in mind we´re talking about peoples´access to water and peoples´lives,¨ she said. Ladouceur replied that there is an enormous gap in where we are now and what we need to do.

We address nations of the world, brothers and sisters, that the people of Mexico will fight and defend our water, our life.
- Maria Cruz

Surrounded by two large murals depicting the struggles of the Mexican people, Maria Cruz, an indigenous spokesperson for the Mexician Coalition for the Defense of Water as a Human Right (COMDA), gave an empassioned address to approximately 600 people. COMDA believes in four basic principles, said Cruz:

1. Water is a basic human right
2. Water is not a commodity
3. Water is a public resource
4. Sustainable management of water is needed to support it´s equitable distribution and is ensured by democratic management with the participation of the poor

Cruz reinforced that water is a “natural right, a fundamental basis for life.” The water crisis in Mexico today stands in stark contrast to the “old Mexico city surrounded by lakes, full aquaducts and lush forests.” The Mexico City of the 21st century is “a city of cement, a sinking city with disappearing lakes, aquaducts and forests.”

As members of Development and Peace, Cruz affirmed our own beliefs, and COMDA´s vision found resonance with our declaration on water. Cruz railed against the vision of “the new conquerors” and “the agents of privatization - the World Bank, the IMF and the WTO”. These institutions have ignored the collective memory of the people of Mexico and have even blamed them for the current water crisis.

In a sharp condemnation of this position Cruz shouted “poor people care about water, they defend it, the poor don´t waste water, they carry it for long distances, just ask the housewives!

" The water is not for sale!” Spontaneously the crowd shouted their approval.
“ El agua es la vida, la tierra nos la dio”
“ Water is life, earth gave it to us”

It was Ghandi, said Cruz, who said “the world has enough resources for everyone´s need but not for everyone´s greed”. The greedy are “the corporations that want us to believe that they are defining our “water culture”. It is these companies (the World Bank, the International Bank for Reconstruction) that are major sponsors of the “offical” World Water Forum.

“But this official forum “, said Cruz, “doesn´t speak for us. It is not a forum for life. It promotes a culture of greed and death. We will not recognize the resolutions and call on governments not to collude with the companies.” In a final defiant proclamation, the alternative World Water forum began when Maria Cruz warned: “Stop Privatization. If you don´t, we will.”

Maria Cruz has indeed spoken her truth and the truth for the world water justice movement.

El agua es la vida, la tierra nos la dio.

Mexico City, March 22, 2006 - Canadian civil society representatives have had a huge impact in this city thanks to the work of the Alternative Forum in Defence of Water (COMDA). Mary Boyd who represented the Atlantic region on the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace (Development and Peace) delegation was very impressed with the work of Mexican and other groups funded by Development and Peace. These partner groups are key actors in the struggle to stop the suffering and death caused by the privatization of water by large corporations including Suez, Vivendi and Coca Cola. Boyd said that during the COMDA she witnessed the scope, depth and strength of the work. One partner group, REMALC, organized very successful workshops on the right to water. Speakers testified to the agony of people who cannot afford the price charged for fresh water and the environmental damage inflicted by the private interests.

Panelists in the COMDA told stories of how companies convince local municipalities and communities that they can expand water and sewage services in a more efficient way. Once they get a foothold, the price of water increases as much as six times and the quality is poor. Furthermore, the service never expands to the poor neighbourhoods. Emotions ran high and passionate pleas were made by those involved in the struggle for water for all people. Participants related horror stories about preventable sickness, hardship and death especially for women, children and indigenous peoples. The number of people in the world who lack access to fresh drinking water has increased to 1.5 billion. Every 14 seconds, someone dies from contaminated water and it is most likely a child. The World Bank was singled out many times by speakers for its corruption and insistence that poorer countries seeking loans must first privatize their water as a condition for receiving those loans.

Development and Peace insists: that water is a sacred gift that connects all life; that access to clean water is a basic human right; that the value of the earth's fresh water to the common good takes priority over any possible commercial value; and that fresh water is a shared legacy, a public trust and a collective responsibility.

Boyd said that Development and Peace organized a meeting with the Canadian government delegation to the World Water Forum which just wound up in Mexico City. The World Water Forum represents the commercialization of water and is funded by large private water companies including Coca Cola and Nestles. The meeting which included the Council of Canadians and CUPE, established that when it comes to the water issue, the Canadian government needs to ¨get its head out of the sand.¨ To date, Canada refuses to sign the General Comment No. 15 of the United Nations Covenant on Economic, social and cultural rights, which recognizes water as a human right. Development and Peace representatives asked the government delegation to assure public, democratic and participatory management of water utilities.

Although the government delegation claimed it understood the notion of water as a human right, the civil society representatives said that by its actions, Canada is effectively saying there is no right to water. Civil society representatives were puzzled about how Canada could sign the Covenant recognizing the right to food but refuse to acknowledge the right to water. Nicole Ladouceur, head of the Canadian delegation admitted that there is an enormous gap between where Canada is now and where it needs to go on the water issue.

Development and Peace will continue to press the federal government to sign on to the General Comment No. 15. The work of the organization on this issue is recognized as a very positive gesture of solidarity considering that Canada has 20% of the world's fresh water supply.

Development and Peace received a great deal of attention during the 50,000 strong March which took place in Mexico City prior to the opening of the World Water Forum. The organization caught the eye of the Mexican and international media thanks to its informative banners and spirited slogans.

During the COMDA, a large CCODP banner outlining the organization's principles was hoisted across the street from the meeting venue. Boyd said that at one point during a workshop she was invited to the stage to tell the story of how over the last three years CCODP managed to get close to a million postcards signed in defence of water as a human right and a common good. The signing actions were conducted mostly in Catholic parishes across Canada including many Island parishes. People from around the world were also impressed that over 130 Canadian Municipalities signed the declaration. Charlottetown, Summerside and Montague were among those who signed and other Island municipalities are being asked to sign. The Canadian Federation of Municipalities also signed thanks to the efforts of Development and Peace.

Boyd said that water is life giving and is one of the most spiritual of all natural resources because of its symbolism in religious ceremonies. ¨The spiritual aspect makes the privatization by large corporations and its accompanying waste and death-inflicting practices all the more deplorable.¨ She said that the World Water Council Forum which she attended for part of the time is a huge commercial exhibition displaying ways in which water can be turned into a commodity for private profit.

The Forums took place in stark contrast from each other. The COMDA stood for water as life giving and its final statement closely resembled the Development and Peace principles which also reflect Canadian values. The World Water Council Forum, on the other hand, was all about extracting a price for water regardless of the one in every six people who are thirsty, sick and dying. This was brought home at a ceremony conducted by Development and Peace in front of Mexico City's Cathedral. The ceremony stressed the spiritual and public nature of water, and Prince Edward Island water was poured as a symbolic gesture to uphold water's public nature and the continuation of the struggle for fresh drinking water for all people on the planet. The COMDA ended with a resolution to strengthen the structure of the growing world water movement through common actions.

Along with the sacredness of water, which is common in every culture is ritual celebration. These experiences are able to draw both the participant and the bystander into the expression of the spiritual that is inherent within every human person,

Such an occurance happened at an Aztec water ritual ceremony. 75 to 100 indigenous Aztecs allowed some 300 plus bystanders to experience this traditional religious ceremony, through all their senses. To the rhythem of the drum and the haunting sound of blowing on the caunch shell. The indigenous, dressed in spectacular traditional costume and feather headdress danced and chanted for hours. During pauses in the dancing all participants and bystanders alike were cleansed with burning incense.

Another common aspect of every culture is the welcoming ceremony and none are more heart felt than that of the indigenous peoples.

The Hopi people from Arizona heard about this water forum and wanted to be a part of it. They began a relay run of 1,500 miles in early Mar. and were welcomed in a stirring fashion with a flury of music and dance and cleansing with the burning incense cup. Each Hopi in their turn was welcomed into the circle.

The Hopi peoples' struggle over 40 years for water, parallels that which we have heard from other participants at the forum world wide. They brought with them symbols of their sacred waters to be shared with the Aztecs, as a form of solidarity in the continuing struggle for water.

Other indigenous peoples were also welcomed in a similar fashion and included in the sacred circle.

Even though many people were outside this circle it was very evident all felt the movement of the spirit in their own way.

Barry Nelson, presente