Anyone elected to municipal council this fall, October 25, 2010, will still be in office on January 1, 2013, when section 19 of the Safe Drinking Water Act comes into effect. This is the unprecedented duty of care that requires municipal councillors and staff to “act honestly, competently and with integrity, with a view to ensuring the protection and safety” of drinking water users. Municipal councillors and their staff should worry: what does this new obligation add to the obligations they already have?
Dianne got a standing ovation for her Safe Drinking Water Act presentation on the issue to the Ontario Good Roads/ Rural Ontario Municipal Association on February 23.