Starting World Water Month with a Splash

March marks World Water Month, a time to reflect on the importance of water for all life. But we can’t just reflect. We also have to let water move us in action.

To honour everything water gives to us and to grow our reciprocal relationship with her, we’ll be spotlighting Water Watchers and ally initiatives once a week this month, and we are starting off with a splash and a big announcement…

❤️‍🔥 Challenging Bill 5 / C-5: Water Watchers Announces Co-Intervenor Status on New Legal Case ❤️‍🔥

Water Watchers is excited to announce we are joining forces with 14 First Nations and several eNGOs like Sierra Club Canada to support the forthcoming legal challenge against Bills 5 & C-5. This is Water Watchers’ first time as an official party to a legal challenge and marks an exciting new chapter in our solidarity work － one where we don’t just show up together on the frontlines or in decision-makers’ email inboxes, but also in the court room. 

Canada’s Building Canada Act (Bill C5 federally, Bill 5 in Ontario) was passed quietly and quickly—without consultation, without consent, and without accountability. Behind its bureaucratic name hides a dangerous truth: these pieces of legislation give sweeping, unchecked powers to the federal and provincial governments to bypass environmental protections, fast-track extractive mega-projects, and ignore their constitutional duty to consult Indigenous Nations. In short, it legalizes the suspension of democracy in the name of economic recovery and national security. It weaponizes the language of “streamlining” to erase the very processes that were designed to protect land, waters, and Indigenous rights.

Bill C-5 (federal) and Bill 5 (Ontario):

• Undermines Section 35 of the Constitution and UNDRIP implementation
• Nullifies environmental impact assessments for major projects
• Shields destructive development—like the Ring of Fire—from scrutiny or accountability
• Deepens economic coercion among First Nations, forcing consent under duress
• Empowers Cabinet to override key federal laws without public or judicial oversight

If this legislation is allowed to stand, it will set precedent for the expansion of fascistic governance under the guise of efficiency. It erodes the foundational tenets of Indigenous sovereignty, democratic process, and ecological stewardship. That’s why Water Watchers is joining as a co-intervenor and fighting to ensure we don’t enter an age of reconciliation rollbacks.

We are also helping shape an emergent coalition of Indigenous water protectors and settler allies, weaving our leadership and ways of knowing to ensure our most sacred relationships with the land and water will endure for generations to come. Stay tuned as we begin sharing more from this burgeoning collective space for environmental defence and Indigenous sovereignty.

Featured Solidarity Action

We echo the calls of Indigenous leaders and stand with the Anishinabek Nation in demanding immediate action to protect our collective waters. We hope you’ll join us in raising your voice for water.

Seeking 200 Sustainers

With 200 people supporting our work with a donation this month, we will be able to deepen our frontlines water work, enhance effective strategy for water justice outcomes, build resources to empower elected officials to strengthen local water justice policies and practices, and launch a couple new water protection initiatives that will help sustain our movement into the future.

So far, we’ve had 8 people step up as Water Watchers Sustainers. Will you join them?

Water really shouldn’t need a special month to honour her, but looking around at the state of the world, where the strongest global democracies are also rolling back environmental and water protections, we understand why we need World Water Month now more than ever.

Water is what makes life on our planet possible and we can’t take that for granted. We hope you’ll follow along closely this month with the initiatives and opportunities to get involved we share, because the water is calling you. Let her move you, this month and beyond.