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For over 35 years, we have described our Window on Ottawa as our "premier event”. While we hosted a series of specialty conferences, our main purpose for existence was to engage the federal government and to advocate for our sector. This event did just that. Once each year, we could gather key policy makers from the many federal departments and agencies, hear from them directly, and be able to ask questions to those in the know.
What made this event most-special was that these policymakers were not invited to tell us what they’ve done already, but to make us aware of what they are working on right now and what they expect to work on next. This is an amazing look into the future and gives all of us a critical heads-up, years before the policies are released publicly. This allows us to get involved early, provide comments, and have a genuine impact on the development of national policies and programs.
I was going to say that "this year is no different” but actually it is. It is even better as we have merged our Window event into the Water Canada Summit – another wonderful, national event. This partnership with the Summit expands our scope, outside of just the municipal utility sector, to include water issues related to industry, food & beverage, mining, agriculture, indigenous issues and source water protection. This is our wider water community and we have much in common to protect our water resources.
Highlights this year will be a keynote address from the Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment, Mr. Terry Duguid, with announcements concerning the new Canada Water Agency. This will be followed by a more in depth discussion with key staff and stakeholders (like us). We will also take a look at the governance issues around addressing First Nations water issues. We will look at the new Atlantic First Nations Water Authority, with their interim CEO Carl Yates, before Carl leads a discussion with Indigenous Services Canada staff and the Assembly of First Nations. We want to look at the lessons being learned and the possibilities for replicating this model or using its framework across the country. There are many more sessions on climate change, adaptation strategies, green infrastructure, wastewater/stormwater management.
Check it all out here: Home - Water Canada Summit (watersummit.ca)
Note – getting 10-20 federal department reps into one room on the same day is impossible, so there are many more sessions to come that we will be presenting virtually so that you can get the critical information you should know. Stay tuned.
Meanwhile, we combined all those specialty conferences into one big National Water & Wastewater Conference – our industry’s number one networking event. This year we are in Niagara Falls November 12-15 and registration is open. National Water and Wastewater Conference - Canadian Water and Wastewater Association (cwwa.ca)
