The Town of Sutton obtains the Blue Community certification!

The Town of Sutton received last night, just before the municipal council meeting, the Blue Community certification from the Eau Secours organization, thus attesting to its renewed commitment to safeguarding public access to water.

Council members receive the Blue Community certification from the Director of Eau Secours (from left to right: Marc-André Blain, Lynda Graham, Marie-José Auclair, Robert Benoît, Rébecca Pétrin, Alan Pavilanis and Thérèse Leclerc).

– PRESS RELEASE –

The Town of Sutton has reiterated its public by obtaining the Blue Community certification awarded by the Eau Secours organization. The municipality is committed to recognizing the human right to water and sanitation services, to promoting public water management and to phasing out the sale of bottled water in its municipal buildings and at its events.

“Access to water is a privilege. It is our duty to protect it now and for future generations,” said Mayor Robert Benoît. “To this end, we have imposed a moratorium on construction within the mountain sector, pending the results of our studies on water availability. We have also created an environmental advisory committee whose priorities include the protection of water. We want to both raise awareness among our citizens about this essential resource and initiate measures to reduce water consumption.”

The certification was presented to the municipal council by Rébecca Pétrin, Executive Director of Eau Secours: “We are delighted to present the Blue Community certification to the Town of Sutton, which, through this process, clearly shows that it prioritizes the issues related to water management on its territory. The climate crisis, combined with a growing demand for water from all users, will create more conflicts around use throughout Quebec. Moreover, Sutton has already felt this impact for several years in the mountain sector. This is why it is important for municipalities to acquire tools to better guide their governance of this most precious resource.”

Eau Secours is taking advantage of the certification ceremony by inviting all citizens of Quebec to ask their municipalities to make the same commitment to water protection by becoming a Blue Community. Individuals and municipalities wishing to take steps in this direction can find all the necessary information on the Eau Secours website: https://eausecours.org/demandez-a-votre-ville-de-sengager-pour-leau/.

About the Blue Community Project

The Blue Community Project is a joint initiative launched in 2009 by the Blue Planet Project, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and the Council of Canadians. A Blue Community is a community that adopts a community framework to recognize water as a common good. The project is coordinated in Quebec by Eau Secours. The province alone now represents more than 10% of the world’s Blue Communities.

About Eau Secours

Eau Secours, a non-profit organization founded in 1997, is dedicated to promoting the protection and responsible management of water from the perspective of environmental health, equity, accessibility and collective defence of people’s rights.

Town of Sutton et Eau Secours’ joint press release