Access to Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (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.
Action
Consistent with collaboration principles with First Nations partners, members of RNAO’s policy department have been engaged with representatives of the Chiefs of Ontario (COO) about the issue of clean water.
- In 2021, the policy team met with COO representatives from both their health and environment departments, including COO director of environment and COO community wellness manager, to discuss specific ongoing initiatives with respect to clean water.
- RNAO subsequently shared information relating to, and examples of, past political action on clean water and water quality issues. The COO community wellness manager and RNAO’s senior economist, Kim Jarvi, will be point persons for further collaboration.
- Concurrently, RNAO’s Ontario Nurses for the Environment Interest Group (ONEIG) is developing a backgrounder on water to review and inform an RNAO position paper on water and submissions related to clean water issues.
No known conflict of interest
