How Are Water Systems Important To The Canadian Economy

Past an overwhelming margin, Canadians consider fresh water to exist the most important natural resource to Canada's hereafter. By a margin of 3-1, they chose water over oil and gas as the key natural resource for Canada's future.

In a Nanos Research poll sponsored by the Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation for Policy Options, 61.half dozen percent of Canadians chose fresh water as the most important natural resource for the land's future, while 21.7 percent chose oil and gas, 11.ii per centum chose forestry and three.8 percent chose the fisheries.

The poll of i,001 Canadians was conducted by telephone betwixt May 26 and June 1, and has a margin of error of 3.1 percent, nineteen times out of 20.

In the past, Canadians have been seen by others as hewers of woods and drawers of water. But from the point of view of self-identification, water is at the very top of the list. Prime Government minister Stephen Harper has positioned Canada as "an free energy superpower," merely looking at these numbers, we tin can recollect of Canada every bit a h2o super-power.

Canadians clearly run into water as an advantage for the Canadian economic system. And if our affluence of water has almost been taken for granted, Canadians today regard information technology as a strategic resource, much more than so than oil and gas. This finding is startling.

Thinking of our economic future, oil and gas are obviously a critical resource. But Canadians conspicuously regard water as their most of import resources, even in the Atlantic and the West, where oil and gas are huge in the economic system.

In the Atlantic, 31.iii percent saw oil and gas equally the most of import resource for the future, while 45.1 pct thought fresh water was most important. The fisheries came in third in the Atlantic at 12.7 percent, the only region of the country where they didn't rank terminal among the 4 resource listed in our interviews.

In the West, 26.7 percent saw oil and gas as our most important resource for the future, while 60.9 percentage chose h2o. These western numbers are closely in line with the national boilerplate.

Not but do Canadians regard water every bit their about important natural resource, they know we have information technology in abundance and expect governments to await after information technology.

When we asked Canadians who they idea should take the greatest responsibility for fresh water, half of them, 49.1 per centum, said all levels of government — federal, provincial and municipal.

But amid the other half, nearly three times as many respondents, 29.4 per centum, thought the federal government should be primarily responsible, as chose the provinces, at only 11.nine per centum, and just seven.1 percent chose municipalities.

On this question, there were some striking, merely not surprising, regional variations. In Quebec, just five.six per centum thought the federal government should exist responsible, while 11.ix percentage saw water as a provincial responsibility, only v.1 percent saw it as a municipal responsibility, and an overwhelming 77.1 percentage idea all levels of government should be responsible.

But in Ontario, only ix.7 per centum thought of water as a provincial responsibility, while 41.9 per centum thought it was a federal responsibility, 10 percent saw information technology as a municipal responsibility, and 34 percent thought all levels of government should be responsible.

With the notable exception of Quebec, Canadians are prepared to have federal leadership on this issue, merely would clearly prefer anybody to piece of work together. And even Quebecers remember this is bigger than Quebec. Three Quebecers in four, as opposed to the national average of one in two, want all governments to cooperate on this issue. Quebecers clearly understand that fifty-fifty within the federation, they have shared boundary water issues with Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick and Ontario.

When we asked Canadians their "greatest concern regarding fresh water in Canada," h2o pollution was clearly their tiptop preoccupation at 39.8 per centum, while waste matter and overconsumption was at 22.i percent. The quality of drinking h2o was the acme business amidst xviii.5 percent, while 17.2 percent chose majority water exports from among the four options mentioned in our interviews. Canadians are most concerned most pollution and conservation of fresh water. And while they may non be in favour of bulk water exports, they are non very concerned about it.

But when nosotros asked Canadians what they thought should be the "summit authorities priority for addressing Canada's fresh h2o challenges," "forbidding bulk h2o export" came in second from among five suggested priorities, at 20.2 percent, second in importance to "adopting a national h2o strategy," which ranked starting time at 28.9 percent.

In a sense, what Canadians want here is a national water strategy that includes the forbidding of bulk water exports.

Public awareness and educational activity ranked third at 16.3 per centum, preserving water flows and aquatic ecosystems ranked quaternary at 15.v per centum, while only 11.9 percent thought government should increment investments in water and waste matter-water infrastructure.

But when we asked Canadians whether they would exist willing "to pay more than for water if it improved the supply of clean water," fully 25.4 percentage said they would exist "very willing," and another 20.four percent said they would be "somewhat willing." But 13.v per centum said they would exist "not at all willing" to pay more than for h2o, and just 11.1 percent said they were "somewhat unwilling."

In other words, with varying levels of willingness, nearly half of Canadians are prepared to pay more than for fresh water, if governments can guarantee an improved supply.

Canadians are very engaged on the issue of fresh water. Not only exercise they regard it as by far our about important natural resource, a somewhat surprising finding when the importance of oil and gas to our economy is considered. They also regard information technology every bit of import to the Canadian identity — they don't mind being seen as "drawers of water," for they see themselves that way.

And when yous expect inside the numbers of this Nanos-Policy Options poll, you see something else. Canadians non just see water as disquisitional to their future and a role of their identity, they besides see Canada's affluence of fresh h2o as a thing of sovereignty.

Photo: Shutterstock

Source: https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/canadas-water-challenges/canadians-overwhelmingly-choose-water-as-our-most-important-natural-resource/

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