Group urges Whitehorse council to ban bottled water sales

A national group is lobbying Whitehorse city council to promote tap water and ban the sale of bottled water in municipal facilities and events.

The Whitehorse chapter of the Council of Canadians appeared before council Monday night to ask the city to join its Blue Communities campaign, which calls on municipal governments to promote publicly funded, owned and operated water and wastewater facilities.

"We know the public system works, and we have concerns about privatization when it comes to water and the trade deals that facilitate it. For these reasons, I'm inviting [the] mayor and council to consider becoming a 'blue' community," group spokesperson Tory Russell told council.

"I think that in practice, you are very close to these things, and I'm grateful for how you are managing water."

Earlier this month, Mayor Bev Buckway signed on to a similar campaign, run by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, to phase out the sale and purchase of bottled water in public facilities.

Buckway said the city currently does not sell bottled water at any of its facilities. However, the city does spend almost $2,000 a year buying bottled water for its office workers.

"With privatization, there's no incentive to manage water efficiently and there's no incentive to protect it from environmental harm," Russell told council. "There's an incentive to make more money."

There is no word on when council will vote on the Council of Canadians proposal, or how councillors may vote on it.