Water On The Table
Is water a commerical good like running shoes or Coca-Cola? Or is water a human right like air?
‘Water justice is the right of every living thing on earth,’ says Maude Barlow at the top of Liz Marshall’s manifesto of a documentary, Water On The Table.
‘We need new laws to regulate human behaviour in order to protect the integrity of the earth and all species on it from our wanton exploitation.’
It’s a big point, and most certainly a rallying cry for those watching black sludge cover the wildlife and shorelines of the Gulf Coast, but in Marshall’s film, this call to action is presented as more of a moral argument. What, if any, responsibility do we have as human beings to ensure the survival of our own species? Is it really OK if water becomes a corporate commodity? What about air? Can we trust the corporate community to do what is morally and socially just when it comes to common terrestrial assets such as water, air and sunlight?
Some believe it’s entirely appropriate to sell off and commodify ‘natural resources’ such as water. Others, most notably Barlow, international water crusader and chairperson for the Council of Canadians, believe it’s not only irresponsible – it’s immoral.
– Katherine Monk, CanWest
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