Safe drinking water a must

By Howard Hampton
MPP Kenora-RR

Last week, staff and MPPs at Queen’s Park had a shock.
According to reports the tap water at Queen’s Park is not safe to drink. What’s particularly worrisome is not that Queen’s Park had high levels of lead in its water but that across the province families had been worrying about the same problem in their water - and were told by the government that widespread testing wasn’t needed.
Access to clean and safe drinking water is something that all Ontarians should be able to count on. It’s a no-brainer. One of government’s most important roles is ensuring that its citizens have safe access to necessities. For Ontarians especially this is a concern considering the problems that we have had in the past in Walkerton and other communities.
If it’s not so much to ask that government ensure safe access to drinking water, then why has the government dropped the ball when it comes to lead?
There are a number of different issues that affect the safety of drinking water and the most fundamental one is ensuring that water is clean from the moment municipally run water systems draw it to the moment it leaves your tap for use or consumption.
This is where the Ontario government is failing its citizens. Ontario has no program mandating that water be safe when it leaves the tap, while it tests water in municipally run systems there is no guarantee that water will stay lead-free as it passes through older pipes on its way to your tap.
Further, the testing that Ontario does is often inadequate. According the Ministry of the Environment when they test tap water, they let the water run for five minutes to dilute lead buildups.
How does this help Ontarians? Who waits for five minutes before consuming the water that comes out of their taps? In the United States and other provinces water is tested as-is, to more closely measure the levels of lead that people will be exposed to when they pour water from their taps.
Ontario families can’t afford to wait.
It’s time for the government to recognize the serious threat facing Ontario families.
While municipalities do have an obligation to ensure safe water, the provincial government must ensure that municipal governments have the resources they need to modernize infrastructure and they must have the tools, like effective water testing, to ensure that their water supplies are safe. Ontario cities and communities are having more trouble meeting all of their obligations, including modernizing water systems to ensure that older leaden pipes are removed and newer ones are brought in.
When it comes to water safety the McGuinty Liberals are taking half measures on something of great importance and concern to Ontario families.