Stop the Hogs!

The Council of Canadians also has this ongoing campaign against Nestle bottled-water takings in Ontario and British Columbia. [ http://canadians.org/nestle ]

= = =

Nestlé bottled water found in stores thousands of kilometres from controversial well sites

[ http://canadians.org/media/nestle-bottl ... well-sites ]

Media Release March 29, 2017

Nestlé Pure Life brand bottled water from Aberfoyle, Ontario has been traced thousands of kilometres across the country by the Council of Canadians.

Local chapters of the Council of Canadians reported finding the bottles for sale as far away as St. John’s, Newfoundland – 3,147 kilometres from the source of the water. Council chapters in Montreal, Thunder Bay, and Bridgewater, Nova Scotia also found bottled water from Aberfoyle for sale in their communities.

Nestlé Pure Life brand bottled water from Hope, B.C. (Nestlé’s only other bottling plant in Canada) was found for sale by chapters as far away as Yellowknife (2,126 km) and Winnipeg (2,144 km).

“We have wonderful tap water in Montreal. We don’t need to buy water in single-use plastic bottles that have been shipped 600 kilometres from Ontario,” says Abdul Pirani of the Montreal chapter of the Council of Canadians. “Removing the water from Aberfoyle has a real impact on the local aquifer. Trucking it thousands of kilometres across the country creates needless pollution and adds millions of empty plastic bottles to local landfills. And for what? For the privilege of paying an astronomical markup to drink water that’s not half as good or as fresh as what comes out of our taps for next to nothing?”

Nestlé’s Aberfoyle plant is the largest bottled water production facility in Canada. The Swiss company’s permit to pump 3.6 million litres of groundwater per day from the Guelph-Amabel Aquifer is expired and under review by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change. Nestlé has another permit allowing it to extract up to 1.1 million litres per day from a well 40 kilometres away in Hillsburgh. That permit expires at the end of July.

“Nestlé keeps extracting and wasting this precious resource despite recurring droughts in Southern Ontario and throughout B.C.,” says Emma Lui, Water Campaigner for the Council of Canadians. “Groundwater resources are finite. Droughts, climate change and over-extraction continue to impact our limited water sources. At this pace, communities will not have enough for their future needs.”

The Council of Canadians is calling for a phase-out of current water permits for producing single-serving, disposable bottled water products and a permanent moratorium on the issuing of any new permits for the same purpose.

Found for sale in Store: Distance by road and ferry

SOURCE: Hope, BC:

Yellowknife, NT Independent Grocers 2,126 km
Winnipeg, MB Co-Op 2,144 km
Archerwill, SK Co-Op 1,646 km
Yorkton, SK Walmart / Save On Foods 1,704 km
Melville, SK Extra Foods 1,868 km
Red Deer, AB Sobey’s 958 km
Edmonton, AB Shell gas station 1,009 km

SOURCE: Aberfoyle, ON:

St John’s, NL Dominion 3,147 km
Bridgewater, NS Canadian Superstore 1,939 km
Dartmouth, NS Walmart 1,851 km
Thunder Bay, ON Walmart 1,428 km
Montreal, QC IGA 605 km
Ottawa, ON Loblaws 512 km
Cobourg, ON Foodland / No Frills 179 km

The Council of Canadians has 60 volunteer chapters from coast to coast to coast working with frontline community groups such as Wellington Water Watchers who are fighting to protect local groundwater from Nestlé. -30-

Media contact

For media calls:
Dylan Penner, Media Officer
Cell: (613) 795-8685
Office: (613) 233-4487, ext. 249
E-mail: dpenner@canadians.org

St. John's chapter finds Nestle bottled water 3,147 km from where it was extracted

[ http://canadians.org/blog/st-johns-chap ... -extracted ]

March 31, 2017 - 9:50 am

The Council of Canadians St. John's chapter has found Nestle bottled water in their local grocery store -- 3,147 kilometres from where it was bottled in Aberfoyle, Ontario.

St. John's chapter activist Andrea Furlong comments, "We have wonderful tap water in St. John’s, so the idea of buying bottled water that has been shipped thousands of kilometres from Ontario is a bit of a head-scratcher. The impact of water extraction on the source aquifer is real and so is the amount of oil burnt up transporting it all the way to St. John’s with a bunch of useless plastic waste. And for what? For the privilege of paying an astronomical markup to drink water that’s not half as good or as fresh as what comes out of our taps for next to nothing? Why pay for water twice?”

Our South Shore chapter also found Nestle Pure Life brand bottled water in a local store in Bridgewater (1,939 kilometres from Aberfoyle), as did our Thunder Bay chapter (1,428 kilometres), our Montreal chapter (605 kilometres), and our Northumberland chapter in Cobourg (179 kilometres).

In November 2011, Business Insider reported that the production of water bottles consumed 17 million barrels of oil a year in the United States.

The Pacific Institute says, "Energy is needed to fill the bottles with water at the factory, move it by truck, train, ship, or air freight to the user, cool it in grocery stores or home refrigerators, and recover, recycle, or throw away the empty bottles. [We] estimate that the total amount of energy embedded in our use of bottled water can be as high as the equivalent of filling a plastic bottle one quarter full with oil."

The Council of Canadians is calling for a phase-out of current bottled water-taking permits and for a permanent moratorium on new permits.

Chapters are also mobilizing in towns and cities across the country in support of our blue community campaign. A 'blue community' is a municipality that adopts a framework that recognizes water as a human right, opposes the sale of bottled water in public facilities and at municipal events, and promotes publicly financed, owned and operated water and wastewater services.

#right2water

Tags: chapters
[ http://canadians.org/tags/chapters ]

Brent Patterson's blog
Political Director of the Council of Canadians
[ http://canadians.org/blogs/brent-patterson ]

NWT chapter finds Nestle bottled water 2,126 km from where it was extracted

[ http://canadians.org/blog/nwt-chapter-f ... -extracted ]

March 31, 2017 - 10:34 am

The Council of Canadians Northwest Territories chapter has found Nestle bottled water in a local grocery store in Yellowknife -- 2,126 kilometres from where it was bottled in Hope, British Columbia.

NWT chapter activist Robert Wilson says, "We have wonderful tap water in Yellowknife. We don’t need to buy water in single-use plastic bottles that have been shipped thousands of kilometres from southern BC. Removing the water from the Kawkawa Lake aquifer in Hope has a real impact. Trucking it thousands of kilometres across the country creates needless pollution and adds millions of empty plastic bottles to our landfill. All that for the privilege of paying an astronomical markup to drink water that’s not half as good or as fresh as what comes out of our taps for next to nothing.”

Our Winnipeg chapter also found Nestle bottled water in a local store (2,144 kilometres from Hope), as did our Quill Plains chapter in Archerwill, Saskatchewan (1,646 kilometres), our Red Deer chapter (958 kilometres), and our Edmonton chapter (1,009 kilometres).

In November 2011, Business Insider reported that the production of water bottles consumed 17 million barrels of oil a year in the United States.

The Pacific Institute says, "Energy is needed to fill the bottles with water at the factory, move it by truck, train, ship, or air freight to the user, cool it in grocery stores or home refrigerators, and recover, recycle, or throw away the empty bottles. [We] estimate that the total amount of energy embedded in our use of bottled water can be as high as the equivalent of filling a plastic bottle one quarter full with oil."

The Council of Canadians is calling for a phase-out of current bottled water-taking permits and for a permanent moratorium on new permits.

Chapters are also mobilizing in towns and cities across the country in support of our blue community campaign. A 'blue community' is a municipality that adopts a framework that recognizes water as a human right, opposes the sale of bottled water in public facilities and at municipal events, and promotes publicly financed, owned and operated water and wastewater services.

#right2water


Tags: chapters
[ http://canadians.org/tags/chapters ]

Brent Patterson's blog
Political Director of the Council of Canadians
[ http://canadians.org/blogs/brent-patterson ]

Michigan state legislators to introduce motion opposing Nestle bottled-water takings, April 19

[ http://canadians.org/blog/michigan-stat ... s-april-19

April 7, 2017 - 8:58 am

Metro Times reports, "Two state representatives say they'll introduce a resolution opposing approval of Nestle Waters North America's plans to withdraw tens of millions of more gallons of water from Michigan."

The article adds, "The resolution, to be introduced by state Reps. Terry J. Sabo (D-Muskegon) and Robert Wittenberg (D-Oak Park), urges Gov. Rick Snyder and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) to reject Nestle Waters’ request to increase the amount of water pumped out of the ground at their PW 101 well north of Evart in Osceola Township. For this privilege, Nestle would pay the state of Michigan $200."

The well is located about 520 metres north of the headwaters of Chippewa Creek and 4 kilometres east of Twin Creek, both tributaries of the Muskegon River. In their permit application Nestle claims that average water levels in Twin and Chippewa creeks would "decline only minimally" and that while "an incremental effect of the proposed increased withdrawal on wetland water levels may occur in five wetlands, [it] is not expected to cause adverse ecological effects."

While Nestle's claim does not reassure, the Metro Times article also highlights, "Environmental activists cite a host of problems with the well pumping as it is, including disappearing fish species, loss of habitat, and drawdowns in surface water flow. They also argue that the application is flawed, not just with incorrect flow data, but with incorrect control data that has water running uphill. Thanks to their efforts, MDEQ is now in the process of seeking much more information from Nestle."

And the article notes, "In late February, Michigan environmentalists presented the MDEQ with a 345,000-signature petition against Nestle at the Michigan Capitol."

The Council of Canadians stands in solidarity with the opposition to Nestle bottled-water takings in Michigan.

Council of Canadians chairperson Maude Barlow will be speaking against the transnational corporation's global water-taking operations at a public forum in Flint, Michigan in June. Stay tuned for details on that in the coming weeks.

Nestle's Ice Mountain plant, where the water taken from Osceolo Township would be bottled, is situated about 190 kilometres northwest of Flint.

Flint's drinking water supply became contaminated with lead after the city switched its water supply in 2014 to save money. It had been accessing its drinking water through the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, but Flint's emergency manager, appointed by the state, ordered the city to draw its water from the long-polluted and corrosive Flint River to save about $5 million. Flint returned to Detroit's system after a year, but there are concerns that the damage to the pipes continues to leach lead. Exposure to lead can cause serious health issues in children and adults.

The Council of Canadians also has this ongoing campaign against Nestle bottled-water takings in Ontario and British Columbia.
[ http://canadians.org/nestle ]

To date, 51,762 people have signed our Boycott Nestle petition.
[ https://secure.canadians.org/ea-action/ ... n.id=56392 ]

#BoycottNestle

Tags: nestle
[ http://canadians.org/tags/nestle ]

Brent Patterson's blog
Political Director of the Council of Canadians
[ http://canadians.org/blogs/brent-patterson ]

Northwest Territories chapter quoted in Huffington Post video on Nestle bottled water

[ https://canadians.org/blog/northwest-te ... o.facebook ]

April 13, 2017 - 4:39 pm

The Huffington Post reports, "Bottled water — and its sourcing and plastic packaging — has become a controversial product. Now, there's another reason you might want to avoid it. Nestlé, which is a major bottler of water in Canada, sources water from plants in Hope, B.C. and Aberfoyle, Ont. The plastic bottles then travel hundreds — sometimes thousands — of kilometres to be sold across the country, activists from the Council of Canadians have discovered."

The article adds, "Bottles from Hope were found in stores as far away as Yellowknife, while those from Aberfoyle were on sale in St. John’s. And yes, the tap water in those places are perfectly drinkable. So to compare, stores in Yellowknife were selling bottles from Hope — 2,126 kilometres away — the city’s tap water comes from Yellowknife River, which is eight kilometres away."

It then quotes Northwest Territories chapter activist Robert Wilson who says, “Trucking it thousands of kilometres across the country creates needless pollution and adds millions of empty plastic bottles to our landfill. All that for the privilege of paying an astronomical markup to drink water that’s not half as good or as fresh as what comes out of our taps for next to nothing.”

To watch the 71-second Huffington Post video that animates the distances travelled and highlights Wilson's quote, please click here.

The Pacific Institute says, "Energy is needed to fill the bottles with water at the factory, move it by truck, train, ship, or air freight to the user, cool it in grocery stores or home refrigerators, and recover, recycle, or throw away the empty bottles. [We] estimate that the total amount of energy embedded in our use of bottled water can be as high as the equivalent of filling a plastic bottle one quarter full with oil."

The Council of Canadians is calling for a phase-out of current bottled water-taking permits and for a permanent moratorium on new permits.

Chapters are also mobilizing in towns and cities across the country in support of our blue community campaign [ https://canadians.org/bluecommunities ] . A blue community is a municipality that adopts a framework that recognizes water as a human right, opposes the sale of bottled water in public facilities and at municipal events, and promotes publicly financed, owned and operated water and wastewater services.

#right2water

Tags: chapters
[ https://canadians.org/tags/chapters ]

Brent Patterson's blog
Political Director of the Council of Canadians
[ https://canadians.org/blogs/brent-patterson ]

Council of Canadians expresses solidarity with local campaign to stop Nestlé in Erin Township

[ https://canadians.org/blog/council-cana ... n-township ]

April 13, 2017 - 3:22 pm

Let Mayor Alls and Councillors Brennan, Duncan and Smith know that they should reject Nestlé funding on April 18.

The Council of Canadians expresses its solidarity with the Green Well Ecological Collaborative and their effort to stop Nestlé in the southwestern Ontario community of Erin.

The Wellington Advertiser reports, "A group of Erin citizens is asking town council to reject a voluntary levy offered by Nestlé Waters Canada."

On February 1, Nestlé proposed to town council that they would give the town 50 cents for every 1,000 litres of water they extract from the Hillsburgh well. Nestlé said the town would get at least $25,000 annually and estimates are the town could receive about $40,000 a year through this so-called 'community benefit fund'.

On April 4, the Green Well Ecological Collaborative recommended to the five-person town council that the group launch a social media campaign to raise the estimated $40,000 that Nestlé has offered to pay the town.

Linda Rosier, a spokesperson for the group, told councillors, "If the only reason you're saying 'yes' is because you need $40,000, we'll come up with the $40,000 through a social media campaign which we would start in conjunction with Waterstock."

Waterstock is taking place on June 11 from 12 pm to 5 pm at the Bela Farm in Hillsburgh. Wellington Water Watchers is organizing the event to mobilize community pressure to ask Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne to say no to Nestlé water takings in the province.

From the Wellington Advertiser report, Councillor Rob Smith ‎(rob.smith@erin.ca) seemed skeptical that the money could be raised, Councillor John Brennan (john.brennan@erin.ca) said the town should work with Nestlé, while Councillor Jeff Duncan (jeff.duncan@erin.ca) also appeared to support taking money from Nestlé.

On the other hand, Councillor Matt Sammut (matt.sammut@erin.ca) urged council to consider the proposal. Sammut said, "I don't think water should be given to companies to exploit and make significant profits on."

Mayor Allan Alls (allan.alls@erin.ca) says council will make a decision on April 18. The CBC has reported that Alls would be willing to comment on the fund following that meeting.

The Town of Erin's website notes, "Very important issues arise in the Town of Erin from time to time. Public comment is always welcome."

You can email the councillors with the emails noted above or send your message to the Town Council General Mailbox at council@erin.ca

When the Green Well Ecological Collaborative launches its fundraising campaign, The Council of Canadians will contribute to their fund.

Tags: nestle
[ https://canadians.org/tags/nestle ]

Brent Patterson's blog
Political Director of the Council of Canadians
[ https://canadians.org/blogs/brent-patterson ]

= = = = =

Guelph chapter at Erin Town Council meeting tonight on Nestlé 'community benefit fund'

[ https://canadians.org/blog/guelph-chapt ... nefit-fund ]

April 18, 2017 - 1:57 pm

The Council of Canadians Guelph chapter will be at a Town Council meeting in Erin this evening where a so-called Nestlé 'community benefit fund' will be voted on.

Our ally Wellington Water Watchers highlights, "The Town of Erin meets tonight at 6:30pm at Town offices at 5684 Trafalgar Rd Erin ON N0B 1Z0. If you live in the Erin area please plan to attend this meeting. (arrive after 5:00 pm to ensure a strong visible presence!)"

And CBC reports, "The Town of Erin will discuss whether it should accept money from Nestlé Waters Canada that would come from a voluntary levy the company has proposed. Nestlé Waters has said the money is a donation to help improve the community and would be based on how much water it pumps from the well the company owns in Hillsburgh. But critics have said the money is nothing more than Nestlé Waters paying the Town of Erin for water in a backhanded way."

On the 5-member Town Council:
YES - Councillors Rob Smith ‎(rob.smith@erin.ca), John Brennan (john.brennan@erin.ca) and Jeff Duncan (jeff.duncan@erin.ca) appear open to the town accepting the money from Nestlé.
NO COMMENT - Mayor Allan Alls (allan.alls@erin.ca) has refused to speak with the media on this issue prior to this evening's vote.
UNCLEAR - Councillor Matt Sammut (matt.sammut@erin.ca) is open to local residents raising the equivalent funds and has stated, "I don't think water should be given to companies to exploit and make significant profits on."

The CBC article adds, "A staff report from Town of Erin director of finance Ursula D'Angelo recommends accepting the voluntary levy from Nestlé Waters Canada and use the money for community projects."

You can email the councillors with the emails noted above or send your message to the Town Council General Mailbox at council@erin.ca

Nestlé's current permit to extract 1.1 million litres of water per day from Hillsburgh expires on August 31, 2017.

The Council of Canadians supports the local opposition that says the Town of Erin should reject funding from Nestlé.

Tags: chapters
[ http://canadians.org/tags/chapters ]

Brent Patterson's blog
Political Director of the Council of Canadians
[ http://canadians.org/blogs/brent-patterson ]

= = = = =

Barlow says Erin Town Council made a "a big mistake" by voting in favour of Nestlé money

[ https://canadians.org/blog/barlow-says- ... 3%A9-money ]

April 19, 2017 - 10:58 am

(PHOTO: Two children express their view before the vote. Photo by @putfoodinbudget)

Council of Canadians chairperson Maude Barlow says the Town Council of Erin made "a big mistake" by voting in favour of accepting funds from Nestlé Waters Canada in relation to the water the transnational extracts from the local Hillsburgh well for their bottled water operations.

On February 1, Nestlé proposed to town council that they would give the town 50 cents for every 1,000 litres of water they extract from the well. Nestlé said the town would get at least $25,000 annually and estimates are the town could receive about $40,000 a year through this so-called 'community benefit fund'.

CTV now reports, "A council meeting in Erin [on April 18] was standing room only after residents packed the chambers to voice their opinions on whether or not the town should accept a levy from Nestlé Waters Canada."

The Wellington Advertiser adds, "Citizens jeered Erin council after it votes 4-1 to accept Nestle Waters voluntary levy."

On April 4, the Green Well Ecological Collaborative recommended an alternative to the five-person town council. The group said it would launch a social media campaign to raise the money. Linda Rosier, a spokesperson for the group, told councillors, "If the only reason you're saying 'yes' is because you need $40,000, we'll come up with the $40,000 through a social media campaign."

Nestlé Waters Canada is a subsidiary of Nestle S.A, the Swiss based transnational which had sales of about $116 billion in 2015.

The CBC has reported, "Mike Nagy of the Wellington Water Watchers said the fund is a 'quasi-profit situation' and no municipality should profit from the sale of water. 'We just fundamentally oppose seeing water going out of the community and then, hey, here's a little bit of cash for your trouble.'"

Barlow adds, "Nestlé is a predator."

Nestlé's current permit to extract 1.1 million litres of water per day from Hillsburgh expires on August 31, 2017.

Brent Patterson's blog
Political Director of the Council of Canadians
[ http://canadians.org/blogs/brent-patterson ]

Chilliwack chapter raises questions about Nestle's dealings with Kinder Morgan

[ http://canadians.org/blog/chilliwack-ch ... der-morgan ]

April 14, 2017 - 11:15 am

The Council of Canadians Chilliwack chapter raises the issue of the lack of transparency around how Nestle secured the rerouting of the 890,000 barrel per day Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain tar sands pipeline away from the Nestle well in Hope in a letter to the editor published in the Chilliwack Progress.

In terms of context, our Chilliwack-based ally WaterWealth has noted, "Nestle asked for and got a route change to move the new pipeline further from their wells. Chilliwack residents have been asking for the route to be moved off the aquifer we get our water from. Does Nestle have some pull that we don't?"

Then the Chilliwack Progress reported that Laurie Throness, the provincial Member of the Legislative Assembly for Chilliwack-Hope, commented, "It's a private arrangement they came to. I think Nestle supplied some land for them to do that." Throness made that remark at an all-candidates meeting organized by the chapter.

Chapter activist Suzy Coulter now writes in the Chilliwack Progress, "It is puzzling as to why it proves to be difficult for a concerned citizen to, in fact, get a 'straight record' regarding the issue of Nestle and the pipeline route. On the one hand, Trans Mountain's staffer at the projected route map, told us, at an info session in Hope on March 7th, that the indicated deviation from the old pipeline route was negotiated by Nestle and that if Nestle want the existing old pipe moved too, that Trans Mountain would expect Nestle to pay for that change. On the other hand the Nestle communications people are contradicting this, and further, our own elected provincial representative has a different record."

Furthermore, with respect to Chilliwack, Kinder Morgan would either have to directionally drill a 20 metre tunnel through the city's aquifer (which is 10 metres below the ground) or dig a shallow trench through the backyards of about 50 homes to build this pipeline. Construction on the pipeline is expected to begin with tree clearing and site preparation along the route this September.

Coulter also highlights in her letter, "Yes, Nestle Water Canada's profits were not $9 billion, but Nestle's global profits were even more than that. I learn directly from p. 60 of the Consolidated Financial Statements of the Nestle Group 2016 that their global profits were $8.88 billion Swiss Francs which is equivalent to $11.85 billion Canadian dollars at today's exchange rate."

She concludes, "And for the record, my definition of 'most sustainable enterprises' doesn't include the manufacture of single use plastic bottles of water, some of which have been found on shelves as far away as the Northwest Territories, a distance of 2,126 km. Trucking bottled water thousands of kilometres across the country is not sustainable. Drinking local tap water for free is."

Nestle extracts about 265 million litres of water each year from the Kawkawa aquifer in Hope in Sto:lo territory.

Tags: nestle
[ http://canadians.org/tags/nestle ]

Brent Patterson's blog
Political Director of the Council of Canadians
[ http://canadians.org/blogs/brent-patterson ]

Hamilton chapter to support proposed ban on groundwater extraction at City Board of Health meeting

[ https://canadians.org/blog/hamilton-cha ... th-meeting ]

April 18, 2017 - 7:20 am

The Council of Canadians Hamilton chapter will be presenting to their City's Board of Health on Thursday (April 20) in support of a proposed ban on local groundwater extraction for non-agricultural commercial activity.

The chapter will be speaking in favour of Councillor Aidan Johnson’s motion on this.

At a meeting of the City's General Issues Committee on February 1, Johnson introduced a motion to request staff to study and report to the Board of Health on water-taking by water bottling facilities.

That motion included the request that, "the report include the feasibility of a permanent ban on water-taking by water bottling facilities (commercial, not agricultural or residential water-taking) within the geographical area of the City of Hamilton."

That motion can be read in full here: [ http://www.aidanjohnson.ca/aidans_motio ... extraction ]

The chapter will highlight, "Council of Canadians supporters have made more than 20,000 submissions to the provincial government asking for a permanent moratorium on new Permits To Take Water for single-use bottled water and for a phase-out of the current permits for this wasteful and frivolous product."

Father Edward Mahony will also be speaking on the proposed ban at the Board of Health meeting.

The Hamilton Spectator has reported, "Father Mahony has made it his mission to fight against bottled water. The local priest, who banned one-time-use plastic bottles at Corpus Christi Catholic Church on Upper James Street when he arrived at the parish four and a half years ago, said he tries to educate people buying cases of water at grocery stores. He has expanded his scope more recently, having helped spearhead action within the Diocese of Hamilton and the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board. His next goal? Enacting change at the national level in all Canadian Catholic dioceses."

That article highlights, "He started fighting back more actively after joining the Council of Canadians about four years ago, gaining access to more information on the subject."

Council of Canadians water campaigner Emma Lui spoke with Father Mahony in September 2016 and encouraged him to attend Maude Barlow's upcoming talk on bottled water in Guelph (which he did) where Barlow announced our campaign to boycott Nestle. 51,840 people have now pledged to boycott Nestle products [ https://secure.canadians.org/ea-action/ ... n.id=56392 ]. Lui also talked with Father Mahony about the World Council of Churches becoming a blue community.

In addition, this past December the Hamilton Spectator reported, "Johnson will ask his colleagues to support a study on the implications of preventing bottled water sales at arenas, parks and other city facilities. Council previously considered but rejected such a proposal in 2010, not long after the City of London, Ont. made headlines by banning bottled water sales in municipal buildings. Johnson said his intent is to pump up the use of taxpayer-funded treated water and help preserve fresh water reserves viewed by some environmentalists as increasingly under threat."

Tags: chapters
[ http://canadians.org/tags/chapters ]

Brent Patterson's blog
Political Director of the Council of Canadians

Political Director of the Council of Canadians
[ http://canadians.org/blogs/brent-patterson ]

Nestlé continues to draw water in Aberfoyle 262 days after its permit expired

[ https://canadians.org/blog/nestl%C3%A9- ... it-expired ]

April 19, 2017 - 2:17 pm

On September 22, 2016, Council of Canadians chairperson Maude Barlow announced our Boycott Nestlé campaign. To date, 51,855 people have signed this pledge.

Ontario residents are waiting for a critical decision to be made by Premier Kathleen Wynne on the bottled water industry after the provincial government held a series of consultations on this issue over the past several months.

One consultation related to a moratorium on new or expanded bottled water operations. We helped to generate thousands of submissions emphasizing that a permanent moratorium was needed, but the government has only implemented a two-year moratorium.

Another consultation related to the fees that bottled water companies pay to pump water. We generated thousands of submissions saying that no amount of money is worth allowing companies to bottle and sell water, but the government announced it would raise the fee to one-twentieth of a penny a litre of water taken.

There is also the outstanding question of renewing permits for existing bottled water operations. The thousands of submissions we helped generate on this highlighted our demand that current permits should be phased out.

Overall, we helped generate more than 20,000 submissions to the Ontario government on these critical questions.

The clock is now ticking for it to make some real decisions.

Nestlé's permit to pump 3.6 million litres of water a day from Aberfoyle expired on July 31, 2016, but the company has been allowed to continue -- 262 days after their permit expired! -- to extract water while the government considers their application. In other words, since the expiry of their permit last summer, Nestlé has taken more than 500 million litres of water from the Aberfoyle well.

Furthermore, Nestlé's current permit to extract 1.1 million litres of water per day from Hillsburgh expires on August 31, 2017.

Thousands of people have clearly told the province their concerns about the bottled water industry, but questions remain:

1- Nestlé has applied for a 10-year renewal of its now expired 5-year permit to extract 3.6 million litres of water a day from a well in Aberfoyle. What will the Ontario government decide on this and when?

2- Given Nestlé just maneuvered to have the Town of Erin accept annual funding for the water extracted from the local Hillsburgh well, the company is clearly interested in renewing that permit too. What will the Ontario government decide when that permit expires in August? Will months pass without a decision on this too?

3- And while the two-year moratorium on new bottled water operations put a hold on Nestlé's plan to extract water from a well in Elora, what will happen as of January 1, 2019 when that moratorium expires?

A provincial election is scheduled to be held in Ontario on or before June 7, 2018. Now is the time to demand better from the government.

#BoycottNestle

Brent Patterson's blog
Political Director of the Council of Canadians
[ https://canadians.org/blogs/brent-patterson ]

Ontario’s new bottled water rules leave communities high and dry: Council of Canadians

[ https://canadians.org/media/ontarios-ne ... -canadians ]

Media Release April 21, 2017

New bottled water rules released by the Ontario government today do not go far enough to protect drinking water supplies, says the Council of Canadians.

“Vulnerable groundwater supplies can still be extracted and shipped thousands of kilometres away in single-use plastic bottles,” says Emma Lui, water campaigner for the Council of Canadians. “Ontarians don’t want water wasted – they want it protected for their communities.”

While the new regulations will require more information and consultation by Nestlé and other bottled water companies before permits are renewed, they still allow current operations to continue during severe droughts with only modest reductions in water takings.

“A five-year permit to bottle and transport water out of a watershed is an eternity for a drought-ridden community,” says Lui. “What Ontario really needs is a full phase-out of all bottled water permits.”

Local chapters of the Council of Canadians found Nestlé bottled water from its Aberfoyle plant in stores thousands of kilometres away, including in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador : [ https://canadians.org/media/nestle-bott ... well-sites ]

A December poll [ https://canadians.org/media/overwhelmin ... -companies ] commissioned by the Council of Canadians found that 93 per cent of Ontarians support prioritizing the drinking water needs of local communities over commercial bottling companies. Sixty-five per cent support a permanent phase-out of all permits for bottled water takings. -30-

Media contact

For media calls:
Dylan Penner, Media Officer
Cell: (613) 795-8685
Office: (613) 233-4487, ext. 249
E-mail: dpenner@canadians.org

Ontario government's new rules for Nestlé fall well short of public demands

[ https://canadians.org/blog/ontario-gove ... ic-demands ]

April 22, 2017 - 7:26 am

The Ontario government has announced modest changes to how bottled water companies, including Nestlé Waters Canada, are regulated in the province - but their tweaking falls well short of the substantive demands made by more than 20,000 people during recent public consultations.

Yesterday, the government said it would:

• reduce the length of water extraction permits granted to bottled water companies (the length of a permit, that could still be renewed many times over, would be reduced from 10 years to 5 years)
• implement a mandatory reduction on water taking during a drought (but not stop that water taking)
• increase Indigenous and public notification, consultation and reporting (but did not say that community consent would be required for bottled water permits to be issued by the government).

It had also recently announced it would:
• place a two-year moratorium on new and expanded permits to take water (rather than stopping new permits)
• increase the fee from $3.71 to $503.71 per million litres of water taken (which equates to one-twentieth of a penny a litre of water taken).

There are also promises of "stricter rules" and "further research".

This falls well short of the demands made by more than 20,000 people who called for a permanent moratorium on new permits (not a two-year pause), the phasing out of bottled water operations (not reducing 10-year permits to 5-year permits), and recognition of the right to free, prior and informed consent for affected Indigenous peoples (not merely increased notification, consultation and reporting).

Council of Canadians water campaigner Emma Lui says, “Vulnerable groundwater supplies can still be extracted and shipped thousands of kilometres away in single-use plastic bottles. Ontarians don’t want water wasted – they want it protected for their communities. A five-year permit to bottle and transport water out of a watershed is an eternity for a drought-ridden community. What Ontario really needs is a full phase-out of all bottled water permits.”

Questions still remain:

1- Nestlé has applied for a 10-year renewal of its now expired 5-year permit to extract 3.6 million litres of water a day from a well in Aberfoyle. That permit expired on July 31, 2016, but Nestlé has been allowed to continue to extract water during this government review process. Will the government now grant the company a 5-year permit? How much longer will Nestlé be allowed to pump water under an expired permit?

2- The Nestlé permit to extract 1.1 million litres of water per day from the Hillsburgh well expires on August 31, 2017. Will the Ontario government grant them a 5-year permit for that operation as well?

3- Nestlé also wants to extract 1.6 million litres a day from its recently purchased Middlebrook well in Elora. The Ontario government's new regulations put a two year pause on that plan, but what will happen on January 1, 2019 when that temporary moratorium expires? Given that well is on the traditional territory of the Six Nations of the Grand River, and 11,000 of their members do not have access to clean drinking water, what will the consultation with them look like? How meaningful will it be?

The Council of Canadians is continuing its campaign to have the right to water prioritized over corporate water grabs.

The permit applications in Aberfoyle and Hillsburgh will be key moments, as will the provincial election that must take place on or before June 7, 2018.

To add your name to our online pledge to Boycott Nestle, which has now been signed by 51,863 people, please click here:
[ https://secure.canadians.org/ea-action/ ... n.id=56392 ]


Tags: nestle
[ https://canadians.org/tags/nestle ]

Brent Patterson's blog
Political Director of the Council of Canadians
[ https://canadians.org/blogs/brent-patterson ]

Montreal chapter joins with Eau Secours! for 'water taste test challenge' at school in Châteauguay

[ https://canadians.org/blog/montreal-cha ... A2teauguay ]

April 23, 2017 - 6:52 am

The Council of Canadians Montreal chapter participated in a 'Water Taste Test Challenge' at a school in Châteauguay on April 21.

Chapter activist Abdul Pirani tells us, "As part of the various environmental activities to celebrate Earth Day with 1500 students at Louis Philippe Secondary School, I participated with Eau Secours! (the Quebec coalition for responsible water management) to do an interesting test to differentiate between school tap water and bottled water."

Harvard University has explained:
In an effort to raise awareness about bottled water consumption and water scarcity issues, try hosting a blind taste test of various waters to demonstrate how typical perceptions of bottled water v. tap might not always hold true.

1- Set up a table in an area with heavy foot traffic. Have three pre-assembled and numbered water jugs, 1.) local tap water 2.) grocery store brand bottled water and 3.) high end “designer” bottled water, on your table along with facts and local water information. Be sure to serve all of the water at the same temperature.

2- Strike up a conversation. Introduce yourself. “Do you drink bottled water? Do you have a favorite brand? Do you think you can tell the difference between tap and bottled water?"

3- Provide a Dixie cup and have participants test all three waters. On a sheet with numbers that correspond with the jugs, have participants fill in their guesses. Check their answers. If they get it right, switch the numbers and have them try it again to see if they were just lucky or could actually taste the difference.

4- Track your participants’ responses. This activity is great to pair with a raffle—taking the challenge is an entry into the raffle—or with a movie screening of Tapped or Flow. Have participants take the challenge, screen the film and check answers, at the end reveal the waters and award reusable water bottles to participants.

5- Share your results—post the number of right and wrong guesses along with some water facts such as source information to continue to encourage change beyond event.

Similar taste tests have shown that most people generally cannot differentiate between bottled water and tap water.

Nestlé Pure Life brand bottled water from Aberfoyle, Ontario has been traced thousands of kilometres across the country by the Council of Canadians. It was found in Montreal (605 kilometres from the watershed where it was extracted) and as far away as 3,147 kilometres in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador.

Nestlé is seeking to renew its permit to extract 3.6 million litres of water a day from the well in Aberfoyle. That permit expired on July 31, 2016, but Nestlé has been allowed to continue to extract water while the Ontario government has reviewed its regulations on the bottled water industry.

The provincial government has now decided to make modest tweaks to its regulations - a two year pause on new permits (rather than a permanent moratorium), limiting renewable permits to 5 years (rather than phasing out bottled water operations), and increasing notification and consultation (rather than recognizing the right to free, prior and informed consent for affected Indigenous peoples and communities).

To sign our pledge to Boycott Nestle bottled water, please click here:
[ https://secure.canadians.org/ea-action/ ... n.id=56392 ]

#BoycottNestle

Tags: nestle
[ https://canadians.org/tags/nestle ]

Brent Patterson's blog
Political Director of the Council of Canadians
[ https://canadians.org/blogs/brent-patterson ]

Council of Canadians campaigner asks Michigan to reject Nestlé bottled water permit application

[ https://canadians.org/blog/council-cana ... pplication ]

April 24, 2017 - 6:19 am

Council of Canadians water campaigner Emma Lui has written this letter to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to ask that it reject a permit application from Nestlé Waters North America. [ https://canadians.org/sites/default/fil ... permit.pdf ]

The Swiss transnational is seeking permission from the DEQ to increase the amount of water (from 150 gallons per minute to 400 gallons per minute) it draws from a well north of Evart in Osceola Township for its bottled water operations.

Lui highlights, "Water is a human right, commons and public trust, to be shared, protected, carefully managed and enjoyed by all who live around it. In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly recognized the human rights to water and sanitation, and the 2015 Sustainable Development Goals also recognized these fundamental rights. The human rights to water and sanitation must be recognized at every level of government."

If the permit is granted, Nestlé could withdraw up to 210 million gallons of water per year from a well for the cost of a $200 annual fee.

That well is located about 520 metres north of the headwaters of Chippewa Creek and 4 kilometres east of Twin Creek, both tributaries of the Muskegon River.

In their permit application, Nestlé claims that average water levels in Twin and Chippewa creeks would "decline only minimally" and that while "an incremental effect of the proposed increased withdrawal on wetland water levels may occur in five wetlands, [it] is not expected to cause adverse ecological effects."

While Nestlé's claim does not reassure, a Metro Times article highlights, "Environmental activists cite a host of problems with the well pumping as it is, including disappearing fish species, loss of habitat, and drawdowns in surface water flow. They also argue that the application is flawed, not just with incorrect flow data, but with incorrect control data that has water running uphill."

In a sign of growing opposition, the Osceola Township Planning Commission voted 5-0 on April 18 to deny a request from Nestlé to build a crucial new pumping station needed to withdraw the water. While significant, the fight continues. MLive reports, "Nestlé can appeal the decision to the township Zoning Board of Appeals and, if necessary, circuit court. It could also try again with a new application."

The water would be bottled at Nestlé's Ice Mountain plant which is situated about 190 kilometres northwest of Flint. Council of Canadians chairperson Maude Barlow will be speaking against the transnational corporation's global water-taking operations at a public forum in that city this June.

The Detroit News has reported there is no timetable for the DEQ to make its decision on the permit application.

The Council of Canadians also has this ongoing campaign against Nestlé bottled-water takings in Ontario and British Columbia. [ https://canadians.org/nestle ]

And we express our solidarity with activists - including the Center for Biological Diversity, the Story of Stuff Project and The Courage Campaign - who oppose Nestlé water takings in California.

To see a recent 1-minute TeleSur video about Nestlé drawing 36 million gallons of water a year from the San Bernardino National Forest in drought-stricken California (at a cost to the company of $524 a year) with a permit that expired in 1988, please click here: [ https://videosenglish.telesurtv.net/vid ... alifornia/ ]

#BoycottNestle

Tags: nestle
[ https://canadians.org/tags/nestle ]

Brent Patterson's blog
Political Director of the Council of Canadians
[ https://canadians.org/blogs/brent-patterson ]

Hamilton chapter calls on Board of Health to protect groundwater from bottled water takings

[ https://canadians.org/blog/hamilton-cha ... er-takings ]

April 25, 2017 - 4:17 pm

The Council of Canadians Hamilton chapter presented to their City's Board of Health on Thursday April 20 in support of a proposed ban on local groundwater extraction for non-agricultural commercial activity.

Councillor Aidan Johnson’s motion requests staff to study and report to the Board of Health on water-taking by water bottling facilities. [ http://www.aidanjohnson.ca/aidans_motio ... extraction ]

That motion notes, "the report [should] include the feasibility of a permanent ban on water-taking by water bottling facilities (commercial, not agricultural or residential water-taking) within the geographical area of the City of Hamilton."

Chapter activists David Bennett and David Cherkewski presented to the Board.

Bennett's submission noted, "The right to water is not a free for all, allowing anyone to use all they want for any purpose. Rather, it guarantees clean, accessible drinking water and sanitation for personal and domestic use for all. The human right to water places the onus on government to provide water and sanitation to their people and to prevent harm to the sources that supply it. This includes the responsibility to protect vulnerable groundwater supplies."

And he highlighted, "We have been working alongside Wellington Water Watchers to stop Nestle from getting permits for the Middlebrook well. In response to Nestle taking up its option on this well and trumping the Township of Centre Wellington's bid to buy Middlebrook for the use of future residents, we asked our supporters to commit to a boycott of all bottled water and all Nestle products. Over 50,000 people have declared their support for the boycott to date."

Bennett concluded, "We call for a phasing out of [existing bottled water taking] permits within the next 10 years and a permanent moratorium on new permits for single-use bottled water, a wasteful and frivolous product which, for every litre of water pumped adds two pieces of plastic to the water stream. ...Water is a human right and public trust, to be shared, protected and enjoyed by all those who live around it. Water is for life, not profit. We therefore encourage the City of Hamilton to do everything it can to prevent exploitation of local ground water for the production of single-use bottled water."

The Board of Health will meet next to discuss this issue on May 15 and June 19.

Council of Canadians chairperson Maude Barlow and City Councillor Johnson will be speaking about water justice at a public forum taking place in Hamilton City Council chambers on June 15 at 7 pm.

#BoycottNestle #right2water


Tags: chapters
[ https://canadians.org/tags/chapters ]

Brent Patterson's blog
Political Director of the Council of Canadians
[ https://canadians.org/blogs/brent-patterson ]

Sudbury chapter tells Ontario government it is failing to protect water from Nestlé

[ https://canadians.org/blog/sudbury-chap ... estl%C3%A9 ]

May 2, 2017 - 7:35 pm

The Council of Canadians Sudbury chapter has written Ontario Premier Wynne to express its disappointment over her government's new regulations on bottled water takings.

Chapter activist Glenn Murray writes, "As you are working hard to gain favour with Ontario voters on almost the eve of the next election, the one thing your government continues to drop the ball on is protecting the absolutely most precious resource we have, water. You are putting this valuable resource at risk for the benefit of a well known greedy multinational... Plus, to top it off, you are adding to an already uncontrollable environmental situation with the saturation of our highways, byways, waterways, and landfills, with plastic, single use containers that the bottled water comes in."

The Ontario government has announced modest changes to how bottled water companies, including Nestlé Waters Canada, are regulated in the province - but their tweaking falls well short of the substantive demands made by more than 20,000 people during recent public consultations.

On April 21, the government said it would:

• reduce the length of water extraction permits granted to bottled water companies (the length of a permit, that could still be renewed many times over, would be reduced from 10 years to 5 years)
• implement a mandatory reduction on water taking during a drought (but not stop that water taking)
• increase Indigenous and public notification, consultation and reporting (but did not say that community consent would be required for bottled water permits to be issued by the government).

It had also recently announced it would:

• place a two-year moratorium on new and expanded permits to take water (rather than stopping new permits)
• increase the fee from $3.71 to $503.71 per million litres of water taken (which equates to one-twentieth of a penny a litre of water taken).

This falls far below the demands made by those who called for a permanent moratorium on new permits (not a two-year pause), the phasing out of bottled water operations (not reducing 10-year permits to 5-year permits), and recognition of the right to free, prior and informed consent for affected Indigenous peoples (not merely increased notification, consultation and reporting).

The next provincial election will be held on or before June 7, 2018.

A Forum Research poll conducted in late March suggests the Progressive Conservatives would win a huge majority of 86 seats in the 122 seat legislature (with 43 per cent of the popular vote), the NDP would be the Official Opposition (with 29 seats and 28 per cent of the vote), and that the governing Liberals would be reduced to 7 seats with 19 per cent of the vote (meaning they would also lose official party status in the legislature).

#BoycottNestle


Tags: chapters
[ https://canadians.org/tags/chapters ]


Brent Patterson's blog
Political Director of the Council of Canadians
[ https://canadians.org/blogs/brent-patterson ]