BOTTLED WATERGATE: FINDINGS EXPOSE MILLIONS IN PUBLIC MONEY SPENT ON BOTTLED WATER

Why is the Federal Government spending as much as $7.2 million on bottled water?

For Immediate Release

HALIFAX/OTTAWA, April 29, 2009 – Findings [1] released today by the Polaris Institute and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Nova Scotia, have exposed the Government of Canada’s practice of purchasing millions of dollars of bottled water.

The report, entitled Bottled Watergate: Why is the Federal Government spending millions of tax dollars on bottled water?, draws attention to our federal government’s growing dependence on bottled water. Findings include:

-Since April 2006, the Government of Canada has spent upwards of $7,296,738 of public money on 131 separate contracts to purchase bottled water.
-7 Federal Departments in 8 provinces are involved in the purchasing of bottled water contracts.
-The same amount of money could have been used to pay for 2,918 indoor or 584 outdoor water fountains.
-The same amount of money could have been used to upgrade a water treatment plant in a First Nations Community.

“Bottled water may serve a purpose in situations where potable drinking water is not available, or in certain emergency situations, but it is not a substitute for the tap nor is it a long-term solution,” says Joe Cressy, Campaigns Coordinator of the Polaris Institute. “The solution is publicly delivered tap water”.

“It is deeply troubling that the Government of Canada is spending millions of dollars on bottled water,” says Danny Cavanagh, President of CUPE Nova Scotia. “Water fountains, accessible taps, water treatment plants – just think what the Government of Canada could do if it properly invested $7.2 million dollars”.

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Findings: The detailed findings are available at www.insidethebottle.org [2]

For more information contact:
Joe Cressy, Polaris Institute, 613-668-5542, joecressy@polarisinstitute.org [3]
John McCracken, CUPE Nova Scotia, 902-880-8057, jmccracken@cupe.ca [4]