The government of Quebec is considering legislation that would establish a policy that water legally belongs collectively to the people of Quebec, the Montreal Gazette reported last week. Bill 92 would for the first time give the government the right to require permits for water use by bulk users of water (75,000 liters a day, or the equivalent of two above-ground swimming pools). It would also let the government sue companies that degrade the quality of water or alter the environment.
Members of the Quebec Liberal Party are committed to declaring freshwater a “national resource” that would be subject to public regulation, monitoring and royalty payments. They also seek a policy that asserts “the inalienable collective property of water.” Hearings on the bill will be held this fall.