We've been studying different water management models around the world for 15 years, and we've seen that water has two opposing statuses. There's water as a common good, off-limits to and inappropriate for trade, to which access is also a fundamental human right. There is also water as a commodity. This concept leads to the creation of property rights over water, which enable the distribution of water for different uses as well as the exchange of water-related securities in stock markets.
However, these two visions fail to take into account a crucial aspect, namely that water is a vital and sacred element that enables life on earth for all species. Water is life itself, as the first nations say. It has a spirit, it is alive.
The International Observatory on Nature's Rights, or OIDN, advocates the recognition of people's right to water and sanitation. More fundamentally, the observatory promotes the recognition of water as part of an ecosystem, a living environment with rights. Water does not exist exclusively for our own benefit. It is part of an ecosystem, and it must be shared with the other species with whom we occupy this common home.
We want to propose a holistic vision of water that recognizes our duty to honour, respect and protect it. Moreover, we must act towards it not as masters and owners, but rather as stewards or guardians.
A governance model that recognizes water's legal personality would allow us to hold ourselves accountable to our role as trustees. In fact, the NDP supports the recognition of the legal personality of the St. Lawrence River proposed by the OIDN, and a bill to recognize the legal personality of the river has already been tabled in the House of Commons.
This recognition is also supported by the St. Lawrence Alliance, made up of various Quebec municipalities, non-governmental organizations, or NGOs, and research centres.
Recently, we also obtained the support of the Assembly of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador, which recognized, on April 14, the legal personality of the river. I have a document showing this.
So these are innovative tools. We're proposing this new vision of water so that we can preserve it, restore it, and ultimately understand that protecting water and ecosystems is our shared responsibility.