Right To Water: Research Paper

Reasons Why I Chose the Right To Water

It is unbelievable that a country like Canada which is blessed with plenty of fresh water resources, its people and more the indigenous communities are still not able to access adequate safe and clean drinking water. I come from Kasheshewan indigenous community, and for decades, our community has not been able to access adequate clean and safe drinking water. These have forced the indigenous community to alter their lifestyle in the way they clean, wash, and bath as well as when and how they consume water (David & Claudia, 2007). Canada's indigenous communities have over two decades faced water insecurity, hence calls from the international community that the government has failed in providing a critical resource to some of its citizens.

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Our indigenous community is known to be consuming the poorest quality of water in Canada. As a result, indigenous communities have experienced adverse health conditions. Inequalities to safe and clean drinking water have also left our indigenous communities vulnerable to advisories related to boiling of drinking water, stress, and waterborne diseases (Michael, 2012). Indigenous communities are also burdened by inequality of health care accessibility which helps them in coping with water-borne illness as well as effects on one's wellbeing. Water in the wells which our indigenous community depend on is contaminated with uranium. Also, water obtained from local treatment plants has lethal levels of byproducts that are able to cause cancer due to the treatment of water that is coming from dirty sources. Right to adequately clean and safe drinking water is a human fundamental right and therefore, is not justifiable for indigenous community of Canada to be discriminated against their right. It is, therefore, paramount that the government should have equity to its people in having safe and clean drinking water not excluding the indigenous communities.

The ''United Nations Universal Declaration on Human Rights'' gives nations commitment in protecting, fulfilling, and respecting a broad range on human socio-economic rights. It is, therefore, critical to have safe drinking water as well as sanitation. The right of human beings to safe and clean water is a fundamental right to livelihood, health, and life. The imperatives of meeting basic human water needs are more than just moral, but too, they have rooted in law and justice as well as individual and Canada government responsibilities (Bradford & Lalita, 2016). Inadequate access to clean, safe, affordable, and sufficient water has a great devastating effect on the prosperity, dignity, and health of Canada's indigenous communities.

Description of Right to Water Content

Right to Water as well as sanitation was implicitly recognized in 1948 in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights article 25, which stated that "an integral part of the right of all persons to an adequate standard of living and the right to health.'' The first recognition of the Right to Water was done in 1977 by United Nations Water Conference, and article 6 of it states "Whatever the development stage and the socio-economic situation, people have the right to have access to drinking water whose quantity and quality are equal to their basic needs." (Klasing, 2016). In 1979 the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women was held and in article 14 of the conference states "women living in rural areas had the right to enjoy adequate living conditions, particularly in relation to housing, sanitation, electricity and water supply."

Indigenous communities should have access to "sufficient, safe, acceptable, accessible, and affordable drinking water''. Water supplied to an individual must be continuous and sufficient for both domestic and personal uses. Water that is required for either domestic or an individual use need to be safe, hence it should be free from radiological hazards, chemical substances, and micro-organisms that pose a threat to the health of a person (Klasing, 2016). Both domestic and personal water which is distributed must be of an acceptable taste, odor, and color. Water services and facilities must be the ones which are culturally sensitive and appropriate to privacy, lifecycle, and gender requirements. All individuals have the right to sanitation and water services that are physically accessible and are within reach or within the vicinity of his/her household, health institution, workplaces, and educational institution. Water facilities, water, and services need to be affordable to all people regardless of their status. According to the United Nations Development Program, costs related to water must not exceed 3 per cent of the total income of household.

Two Issues in Contemporary Society Related to the Right of Water

The human rights issue that I have decided to write about is the inadequate access to safe and clean drinking water that still continue to pose a major public health concern in many of Canada's indigenous communities. The reason why I have decided to write about this human fundamental rights issue is because Canada is one of the world's wealthiest country and it always surprises me seeing some of the country's citizens still trying to survive in making their ends meet through not accessing adequate clean and safe drinking water (Michael, 2012). I do believe that the Right to adequate access to safe and clean drinking water should be availed to all citizens of Canada without any discrimination. Time and again, I do feel that the Federal government has for a long period of the time ignored its indigenous communities in denying them their basic rights to affordable and adequate access to clean and safe drinking water.

There has been unequal water distribution among the citizens of Canada. Canada has an abundance of water, but discrimination of water distribution still exists (Daphina. & Gupta, 2014). Ontario province shares Great Lakes and contains 18 per cent of fresh surface water of the world with the United States, but many of its indigenous communities are not safe to affordable, clean, sufficient, and safe drinking water which is a human right fundamental (Bradford & Lalita, 2016). Water distribution to several indigenous communities of Canada is at risk due to faulty systems of treatment, hard to access, and contaminated. The Federal government regulates water supply and quality to the indigenous communities, but it does not have binding regulations for the provision of clean, safe, affordable, and accessible water to its indigenous communities.

As per Right of Water law, advisories of drinking water need to advice and alert indigenous communities supply of water is not safe and clean to drink. Contrast to this contemporary issue, in Canada, such advisories are much concentrated in the indigenous communities an indication of the broad systematic crisis which many of the indigenous communities face in their daily lives of accessing clean and safe water for their hygiene and drinking, which is a fundamental right which most of the other Canadians enjoy (Klasing, 2016). Although the Maracle indigenous community achieved some milestone of its reserve receiving $31 million through the assistance of Federal government for water treatment installation plant, only 68 homes receive clean and safe drinking water. The plant treatment waterline does not extend to all Maracle indigenous community homes leaving a majority of the community to have inadequate accessibility of clean and safe drinking water.

There has been persistent government under-funding and illogical budgeting of cost system related to water. Despite the Federal government devolving most of its social services to the indigenous communities, it still remains the major source of revenue for the communities (Bradford & Lalita, 2016). The leaders of the indigenous communities are accountable to their members for service provision including operating and owning wastewater systems, and water, but their leadership powers are controlled by the Federal government.

Except in few occasions, all capital costs, as well as a portion of maintenance and operation costs towards the provision of clean and safe drinking water to the community, comes from the Federal government, hence it has jurisdiction over the leaders of indigenous communities (Karen, 2007). Despite the community's limited resources, funding for a portion of Canada's indigenous communities public wastewater and water systems by the government leaves a deficit of 20 per cent for the community to cover.

Kasheshewan indigenous community of northern Ontario have been boiling their drinking water for the last 23 years due to the breakdown of the Federal government water treatment plant. This has been contributed by the governments persistent underfunding of the community's projects leading to long-term breakdown of the water treatment plant (Notzke, 1994). On the other hand, despite water bottles being flown on a weekly bases to the Attawapiskat indigenous community, it is rationed to approximately 240 residents of the community. These create serious inadequate accessibility of clean and safe water to the community.

Therefore, Canada's indigenous community's such as Kasheshewan and Attawapiskat faces persisted underfunding from the government, including an arbitrary cap of 20 years (Michael, 2012). These communities are also under advisories of boiled water. Inadequate accessibility to water by Kasheshewan, Attawapiskat, and Maracle indigenous communities had been triggered by water infiltration that is not properly done, bad water pipes connections, and improper disinfection of boiling water (Klasing, 2016). According to the United Nations Rights of Water, imposing such capping level to indigenous communities of Canada is likely to slow down Canada's indigenous community's progression in the realization of their human Rights to Water.

My Personal Opinion on the Issues

My personal opinion is that there is a need to have equal water distribution to all citizens of Canada. There should be no any discrimination whosoever like the one Maracle indigenous community faces (David. & Claudia, 2007). For long time, Kasheshewan, Attawapiskat, and Maracle indigenous communities have consumed untreated water. The community elders link such unsafe drinking water to several deaths of children. The Government of Canada needs to invest in the failing infrastructure especially to the indigenous communities of Kasheshewan and Attawapiskat so that equitable distribution of clean and safe water to all citizens without any discrimination is achieved (Klasing, 2016). It should establish an independent Kasheshewan and Attawapiskat indigenous community commission to evaluate and monitor the performance of the government in relation to the provision of clean and safe drinking water. In its work, the established commission needs to take an account of the practices, laws, and customs of the indigenous communities (Notzke, 1994). There is the need for the government to work closely with the community and promulgate enforceable regulations and legislation pertaining accessibility of clean and safe drinking water. In such, Canada government need to act in a manner which is consistency and in alignment with the Canadian Right of Water laws and international right of water laws. In addition to the government's effort in solving several long-term advisories of drinking water, there is the need for increased transparency to the Kasheshewan, Attawapiskat, and Maracle indigenous communities about the efforts they are making in availing safe and clean drinking water to them (Michael, 2012). The Federal go...