GC39 Water: Life Before Profit (GC39 2006 037)

That the 39th General Council 2006:

1. Receive for information the report "Water: Life before Profit".

2. Direct that the report inform the purpose statement(s) to be developed by this General Council.

3. Affirm its conviction that water is a sacred gift that connects all life. Its value to the common good must take priority over commercial interests. Privatization turns a common good into a commodity, depriving those who cannot pay and further threatening local ecosystems. 

     And further, through the General Secretary, General Council,

4. Encourage United Church congregations to learn more about, and become engaged in, water issues so that members individually, and together as communities of faith, can be better stewards of water, utilising available resources including "Waters of Life: Issues, Ethics and Actions" prepared by the Justice, Global and Ecumenical Relations Unit.

5. Encourage United Church members and congregations to participate in that advocacy campaign denominationally and ecumenically based on this statement against the privatization of water.

6. Call upon the Government of Canada to act, nationally and internationally, to ensure access to clean water for all, now and for future generations by:

   1. Supporting publicly or co-operatively controlled water services that have a genuine community participation, noting the critical need in First Nations communities;

   2. Opposing measures in federal, bilateral and multilateral agreements and policies that promote the privatization of water services, and

   3. Protecting and preserving natural sources of water.

GC39 2006 ROP, pp. 719-720