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The Diocese of Ontario 2023 Synod passed a motion that the diocese become a 'Blue Community' including within that, all the churches in our diocese. 

A Blue Community is a community that adopts a water commons framework, recognizing water as a shared resource that belongs to everyone and should be protected for future generations. The Blue Communities Project, initiated by the Council of Canadians and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), encourages communities to take three key actions:

  1. Recognize Water as a Human Right: Ensuring that everyone has access to clean and safe drinking water.
  2. Promote Public Ownership: Keeping water services in public hands to prevent privatization and ensure equitable access.
  3. Ban Bottled Water: Reducing reliance on bottled water by promoting the use of tap water.

These actions aim to protect water resources, promote sustainable water management, and ensure that water remains a public good.

Motion at Synod 2023

St. Mary Magdalene Napanee parishioner Valerie Smith moved this motion and was seconded by Peter Cory of St. Mary Magdalene.

Valerie and Peter would encourage all parishes to, where feasible, to honour this motion going forward. The following letter is written by Valerie to all parishes in our diocese:

On Becoming a Blue Community

To all my fellow parishioners, The Anglican Diocese of Ontario has become a Blue Community! A Blue Community passes resolutions to declare that

  1. access to clean drinkable water and sanitation is a basic human right.
  2. water and wastewater services are publicly financed, owned and operated.
  3. it will ban the sale and availability of single use bottled water where feasible.

I, Valerie Smith, and Peter Cory, both from St. Mary Magdalene Church in Napanee, presented the successful Motion at Synod 2023. Please find the motion here.

The Blue Communities Project was initiated in 2009 by the Council of Canadians with Maud Barlow as chair. Since then there have been over 100 Blue Communities established all over the world, including Canada. Right here in our own diocese the city of Kingston became a Blue Community in 2009, and the Municipality of North Grenville became one in 2022. Schools, universities, faith-based communities and other institutions have also joined.

Author and water warrior Maude Barlow has written several books, one of which is “Whose Water Is It Anyway?” Please read it; you will be dismayed, alarmed, amazed and convinced that we are doing the right thing to commit to safeguarding our precious water.

The purpose of our motion was to rally the whole Diocese of Ontario, its clergy and parishioners, to take action.

All parishes in the Diocese of Ontario are encouraged to:

  1. affirm the human right to safe water and sanitation.
  2. recognize the need to keep water and wastewater infrastructure in public hands.
  3. ban the availability of single use bottled water at all parish events where feasible.

What parishes are asked to do:

Make a presentation to your church members to explain what a Blue Community is. And then declare number 1 above. That’s the easy part.

Recognize number 2. Get in touch with your municipal councillors and ask them if they have a contract with a private company for their water and wastewater services. This will not prevent the Diocese of Ontario becoming a Blue Community. But I encourage you to ask your councillors tough questions, and back them up with all the information included in this letter.

Commit to number 3. Do not serve or sell bottled water at your parish events: coffee hour, pot luck dinners, yard sales, etc. I’m sure there are many of you who already serve tap water in pitchers. However, some of you in rural areas in particular, do not have potable water, or it has odours like sulphur. It is not our intention that any parish should incur any expenses.

I wish you all the best of luck in a speedy implementation of these steps, so that together we can become a part of the local and global movement for water security and justice.

Most sincerely,

Valerie Smith, St. Mary Magdalene, Napanee

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