Boiling Point

“Progress is our most important product.” The corporate advertising in my youth included that sentence/slogan as a key phrase in one of its ads. I no longer recall what it was advertising, however, interestingly enough, I clearly recall the sentence and wonder how much the message has influenced me over the years. Today, we know that modern “progress” for our “products” must be attentive to the limited resources of Mother Earth.  We also know that progress at-all-cost is not sustainable.

Maude Barlow is a strong activist and articulate defender for the protection of clean water and of water justice. Her latest book, Boiling Point; Government Neglect, Corporate Abuse and Canada’s Water Crisis, is an essential read for all Canadians. Barlow, a Canadian, writes that we must, “abandon our erroneous beliefs that Canada has unlimited supplies of water.” She declares that Canadians are complacent [“it can’t happen here”] about their water security and are unaware of the corporate abuse already present within our country, as well as, the lack of protection and the mismanagement of water at all levels of government. 

In the chapter Water for Sale she states that the B.C. Water Sustainability Act “requires industry, including bottle water companies, to pay what amounts to $5.63 for an amount of water that would fill an Olympic sized swimming pool”. She adds, “A totally inadequate amount given the profit these companies make.” 

Throughout her book she inserts an interesting variety of success and failure stories of communities in battles over water rights. It is apparent, that as interest grows in water as a commodity instead of as an inalienable right, more battles will likely be negotiated.

Barlow’s book is a worthwhile read, albeit, one can feel overwhelmed with the challenges we face, and yet, the reader is also encouraged by the success stories of community action. Barlow closes her Introduction with, “We need a strong national plan of action based on a new water ethic that puts water justice and water protection at the heart of our policies and laws. The path forward is clear, if not simple.”

Mabel St. Louis, CSJ

Maude Barlow's Boiling Point: An Excerpt