Weekend of Heat
Bluffers Beach in Toronto
Mark Mattson is the President and CEO of Swim Drink Fish Canada and an Environmental Lawyer.
It’s no secret, we at Swim Drink Fish are big fans of getting into the water.
Our mission as an organization is connecting people with water. It’s that connection that ultimately leads to protection. Another bad secret of ours.
So, as we head into this long weekend across the country, we’d first like to wish everyone a safe and happy few days away, or close by, but we hope it involves sometime near a local, new, or favourite watering hole.
Our community-based Water Monitoring teams in Vancouver, Edmonton, Toronto and Kingston have been hard at work all summer sampling your waterways to help best inform you about the water quality, allowing you to make the best decision to enter the water.
That brings me to this weekend. It’s going to be a scorcher! In BC, heat records have been falling all weekend, and heat warnings are expected to remain in place throughout the weekend. In Edmonton, it’s going to feel like 36 degrees on Saturday. While in Toronto it will be a sticky, humid filled weekend where it could feel as hot as 40 degrees. Kingstonians may feel lucky enjoying low-30 degrees weather.
The Climate Crisis is making these temperatures more and more likely around the world, and right here at home. Places that aren’t used to this heat do not have air conditioning and infrastructure in place to accommodate residents and visitors during these times. Look no further than last summer’s deadly heat dome in the Pacific Northwest, and Europe this summer.
It’s another reason why natural forms of cooling, such as swimming, are so crucial to dealing with extreme heat. Which brings me to water quality and the privilege it is to have swimmable waters.
Kitsilano Beach, Vancouver
Last week, the City of Vancouver unanimously passed a motion, For a Swimmable Vancouver. This made me think about how privileged we are as Canadians to have access to swimmable water. Not everyone does, both here, in some places in Canada and around the world. So, as cities, specifically major ones like Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Calgary, Edmonton, et cetera, it’s a responsibility to residents and visitors to provide access to swimmable water.
For far too long, Toronto has lived with a stigma around Lake Ontario, be it changing with a true grassroots community of water lovers connecting many of us to the lake again, but even those who flock to cottage country to beat the heat, live with questionable water quality.
The people of Vancouver are fortunate to have some of the most beautiful beaches in the world, with stunning views of the mountains. Some can even venture into those mountains and cool in pristine rivers. But, sewage still wreaks havoc on those beaches from time to time, same as in other cities around the country.
Edmonton Hub Coordinator, Jacquie Pallard floating down the North Saskatchewan River.
In Edmonton, our Water Monitoring team was floating down the North Saskatchewan River last weekend to celebrate the long awaited arrival of summer. I’m sure many more will be doing the same this long weekend. This connection to ‘The Sask’ is relatively new, thanks to support from Hockey Hall of Famer Kevin Lowe and Olympian Karen Percy Lowe, who helped get our Edmonton Hub up and running. Reminding the city of champions of their privilege of swimmable water.
Where I’ll be spending the long weekend in Kingson, it’s been a revelation of swimmable water. Since the creation of the Gord Edgar Downie Pier in 2018, Kingston has consistently prioritized water quality and the transparency needed to inform its community. It’s paid off with thousands and thousands of residents and visitors flocking to the water’s edge.
So, as we wade into this very hot weekend ahead, I ask our leaders, at all levels of government, to follow in the footsteps of cities like Kingston and Vancouver, who are addressing issues of sewage pollution and water quality with the definition of swimmable water. It may sound too simplistic of a form of addressing climate change, but at its core, swimmable water is the intersection of community coming together to protect the environment, social well-being and the economy.
Swimmable water is for everyone.
