On April 29, U.S. President Joe Biden gave his first address to Congress. Early in his speech he identified lead water pipes as a "clear and present danger" to American public health and announced a 100 per cent replacement of lead water pipes found in 10 million U.S. homes and 400,000 schools and child-care centres as a major part of the America’s Job Plan, so that every American has safe drinking water. Here in Canada, all levels of government need to get serious about lead levels in our drinking water.
City of Calgary cancels annual mail-outs, testing for lead in water due to COVID-19
She was surprised to find out her home had a public lead service line (LSL) delivering water from the city’s water mains — especially because she was pregnant while living there. “I freaked out,” Cohen says. “I called the city immediately, and I think they actually told me that they weren’t even sure if they could check our pipes, because I think it was the end of their cycle.”
Liberal MPs call on Ottawa to tackle ‘national public health crisis’ of lead in drinking water
A group of federal Liberal MPs are asking their government to invest up to $400 million to combat the “health crisis” of lead-contaminated drinking water which was exposed in communities across the country by a national investigation by 10 media outlets, including Global News and the Toronto Star. An open letter written by Hamilton MP Bob Bratina says the government “can and must” direct a portion of infrastructure spending designed to revitalize the post-COVID-19 economy into the “national public health crisis we face in the form of lead-contaminated drinking water.”