A province in Canada is to start charging industries for using its water. The problem is the fee is a paltry US$1.79 per million liters. This has prompted over 90,000 to sign a petition, angry that Canada is giving away its natural resource.
The province of British Columbia on Canada’s Pacific coast is planning to introduce the legislation from January 2016, which will see companies charged US$1.79 (CAD$2.25) per million liters of water used. However, residents are dismayed that potential multi-national companies will pay next to nothing for the right to use the province’s water.
A group called the ‘Sum of Us,’ which is a movement of consumers, workers and shareholders speaking with one voice to counterbalance the growing power of large corporations, has set up an online petition to get the public to voice their disapproval. They set a goal of 100,000 signatures to put pressure on the British Columbia government and currently over 91,000 have signed.
The campaigners have cited Nestle as a company that is profiting from the generosity of the province’s government.
“The cruel irony is that the new water legislation is fairly appropriate when it comes to individuals’ water use, but corporations, once again, get off with paying virtually nothing,” the ‘Sum of Us’ stated on its website. “If a Canadian were to bottle enough groundwater to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool, they’d pay $180. Nestlé will pay $6.25. That’s bananas,” they added.
The decision by the British Columbian government to introduce the new legislation is generally supported by the public. It will replace the province’s aging laws, which did not regulate the use of water. This allowed Nestle to take out 250 million liters of water per year without being charged. Under the new proposals, homes in the Canadian province will have to pay around $1.50 extra per year.
