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Thursday, September 4, 2008

DAVIDSON: We must strive to protect our water

posted by BOFarrell at 7h16

by Ann Davidson

Water, water everywhere and not a drop of sunshine.
Well, that is what many of us thought this past summer. For sure, the summer of 2008 will be remembered for water and all its related challenges. It was a central theme in many discussions everywhere.
Rain, rain and more rain. Grey and dreary. When we thought there was no more coming, more was squeezed out of the sky.
There is no question that many of us have witnessed a lack of sun depression.
And as summer washed into Labour Day, the controversy of Quebec and Canada making economic gains on bulk exportation of our blue gold loomed forth again and without taking into in-depth consideration the long-range environmental and social impact.
But stop!
Between too much water and the potential of not enough water, and while our docks submerged in high water levels, our cars surfed the roadways, the Earth’s phosphates rushed to the shores and mould grew between our toes, most of us got sucked into the Olympic Games in Beijing.
Maybe it was our curiosity in just how and what perception we would be given by a totalitarian regime. Maybe it was for the love of sport. Maybe it was alternate activity while trying to stay dry.
But here is the thing. The Beijing Olympics was a great show! It was the forum for testimonial of commitment and a showcase of pride as the athletes represented their homelands. It epitomized human drive and finesse.
Our West Island Olympians are all champions. What stands out with these young people is their endurance to conquer.
And it was our athletes involved in water sports who brought us a lift in spirits. Like the teensy-weensy spiders, over the long and arduous years of training, they have climbed their spouts over and over again and rewoven their webs of support to perfection.
There is no doubt that there were days when thoughts of giving up were present. It is obvious that thoughts of quitting were overridden by hope whispering to them to try it one more time. Young as they are, they have had years of experience and could never be considered wet behind the ears.
The West Island is a privileged region, strong in water sports because of our environment, our facilities, our training programs.
It starts with our water, its quality.
It is our collective responsibility to protect that natural resource that is our fundamental lifeline.
As our athletes move forward to the next round, and we return to post-summer normal life, we must be vigilant watchdogs in this new wave of thoughts on bulk water exportation.
Like the athletes with bronze and silver medals, we must all strive to defend our right to blue-gold so that our quality of life and community can be sustained. We must exercise commitment and long-term vision. We need to inform ourselves properly on the impact of water exportation so that we can influence critical political decisions, so that greedy corporate enterprise does not jump the gun in deference to the ever-tantalizing dollar.
Thank you athletes for bringing us sunshine when sunshine wasn’t!
And congratulations for making all Canada proud!
Ann Davidson is deeply involved in community development by raising awareness of existing services and regional issues as well as orchestrating community partnerships.