Honourable senators, I am pleased to rise as the sponsor at second reading of Bill C-326, An Act to amend the Department of Health Act (drinking water guidelines). This bill was introduced in the other place by Francis Scarpaleggia, the member for Lac-Saint-Louis. The purpose of the bill is to ensure good drinking water quality by requiring Health Canada to adopt water treatment standards recommended by foreign governments or international agencies with high water quality standards.

Honourable senators, let me first give you some background on how drinking water is tested and treated in Canada. In Canada, the vast majority of our drinking water comes from local rivers or groundwater. While they are typically of excellent water quality, these sources are never pure. They may contain non-desirable substances such as minerals, soil particles, biological material but also harmful substances such as fertilizers or pesticides. Some of these contaminants may pose a health risk, which is why our water needs to be treated.

The responsibility to treat water rests with the provinces and territories. It is implemented at the municipal level through water purification plants. These plants employ a series of traditional mechanical and physicochemical processes that include coagulation, sedimentation, filtration and disinfection to remove sediment and kill pathogens to safe levels for transport through pipe networks and into our homes and businesses.

Generally, drinking water available in cities with sophisticated water treatment systems is of high quality. Unfortunately, some municipalities, many rural areas and First Nations communities in Canada do not have access to the same standard of drinking water.

Canada’s water treatment processes are generally consistent with other treatment methods used around the world with some small differences. For example, the exact disinfectant used can vary between cities, provinces and countries depending on the availability of chemicals or operator preferences. We do, however, have some lessons to learn from other jurisdictions. For example, Europe’s focus on source protection that drives down treatment costs and their proactive distribution network maintenance programs reduce the need for disinfection once the water has entered circulation. New technologies such as membrane treatment and cost reductions in disinfection by ultraviolet light and ozone are being used both at home and abroad to treat drinking water.

In terms of the compounds being treated in drinking water, Health Canada establishes a maximum allowable concentration, called MAC, for contaminants in drinking water. Some compounds are found naturally in the environment. For example, manganese is an essential element that humans need in their metabolism, as well as animals, but it may cause unwanted effects such as discolouring the water, causing undesirable tastes and may lead to an accumulation of microbial growths in the water distribution system.

More recent work, however, shows that ingesting too much manganese from drinking water may have some health effects on infants. This demonstrates clearly the need for ever-evolving guidelines in terms of establishing and testing MACs and monitoring new compounds which may affect drinking water sources.

Some compounds found in drinking water, however, are more noxious to human health. I have spoken before in this chamber about the environmental disaster caused by single-use plastics and microparticles. Did you know these products, these plastics, food packaging and electronics contain compounds and chemicals which may disrupt hormones in the human body? For example, flame retardants, phthalates and Bisphenol A are substances that can react with estrogen receptors in the human body and may play a role in the pathogenesis of endocrine disorders such as infertility or breast and prostate cancer. Even at very low dosages, endocrine-disrupting compounds may be dangerous for human consumption.

A 2014 report from Ecojustice compared Canadian MACs to corresponding standards in the U.S., Europe and Australia and to the World Health Organization standards. In 24 cases, Canada has the or is tied for the strongest standard or guideline. In 27 cases, Canada has or is tied for the weakest standard or guideline. But more important, in 105 cases, Canada has no drinking water standards.

For example, the pesticide 2,4-D does not have a guideline or a standard for drinking water in Canada.

Honourable senators, I have given you information and examples to explain why it is so important to have standards that reflect our reality and scientific discovery. This is how we keep human beings and the ecosystem healthy. This bill would require the Minister of Health to identify and acknowledge any foreign government or international agency that has drinking water quality standards that should be studied and compared to Canadian standards. The comparisons should only be made to countries with stringent, science-based criteria to determine the maximum allowable concentration of chemicals and compounds found in drinking water.

Many scientists are studying hydrology and water quality in Canada, but they can’t study millions of combinations of water types and millions of chemicals and biological substances at the same time. However, we can certainly learn from other countries’ research and standards. I think Canada should consider data from other countries if they have a better understanding of contaminant behaviour and of the maximum allowable levels of these contaminants in drinking water.

This bill unanimously passed in the House of Commons after the committee adopted an amendment to expand the scope of the comparison to include any foreign government or international agency that has high water quality standards.

Dear senators, this bill will strengthen Canada’s water quality standards. I encourage it and hope you will support it together with me.

Thank you very much.

Yes.

Thank you very much for the question. You are absolutely right. That’s why I was speaking about millions of compounds, and the guidelines only have hundreds of compounds. Every year industry puts in the market new compounds. It’s true that now in water and waste water treatment plants we can trace antibiotics, contraceptive products and many other — analgesic products. It is important that we have awareness and knowledge about what is the maximum allowable concentration that is safe for human consumption.