Campaigns
Policy only lasts when the public understands it and owns it. Campaigns are where that work becomes public.
Canada Water Week
The idea
Formal recognition of the week in which March 22, World Water Day, falls as Canada Water Week.
We, the undersigned, citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the House of Commons in Parliament assembled to pass a resolution recognizing the week each year in which March 22 falls as Canada Water Week.
The ask
A House of Commons e-petition, e-7165, initiated by Dr. Carolyn Johns, Chair of the Bruce Fellowships, and sponsored by MP Terry Duguid. It was open for signature from February 19 to March 21, 2026, and needed 500 validated signatures to be presented.
The build
Bruce Fellows and other graduate students built the campaign from scratch, under the leadership of Dr. Carolyn Johns and Mike Goffin, Bruce Water Policy Executive in Residence:
- Email and social-media outreach
- The Canada Water Week logo, designed by Michelle
- Videos, posts and public-education materials
- Outreach to universities, watershed organizations, environmental groups and freshwater advocates
- Engagement with federal representatives and water-policy leaders
The result
Key dates
- March 21, 2026The petition closed with 1,000 signatures gathered. The House of Commons validated 863, from every province.
- March 23, 2026MP Duguid announced the petition in the House of Commons. That day, the fellows were in Ottawa for the launch of the national Water Literacy Project and met government officials, Indigenous water leaders, the President of the Canada Water Agency and freshwater-policy advocates.
- April 29, 2026MP Duguid presented the petition to the House of Commons as Petition No. 451-00918.
- 2026MP Duguid visited TMU to meet the Bruce Fellows.
| Ontario | 491 |
|---|---|
| Quebec | 164 |
| Manitoba | 64 |
| Alberta | 37 |
| British Columbia | 36 |
| Nova Scotia | 23 |
| Saskatchewan | 21 |
| New Brunswick | 11 |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | 5 |
| Prince Edward Island | 5 |
What’s next
The government tabled its response on June 12, 2026. Signed by the Honourable Julie Dabrusin, Minister of the Environment, Climate Change and Nature, it pointed to World Water Day and the Canada Water Agency’s work toward a National Water Security Strategy, and did not designate a Canada Water Week.
Read the petition and the government’s response (opens in a new tab)
The campaign was also a tribute to the late Erika Bruce, who founded the Bruce Fellowships in 2017.
Beyond Tomorrow Conference Series
Series 01: Youth Leadership Seminar
Centre for Urban Innovation, Toronto, and online
Michelle hosted the first Beyond Tomorrow conference with the Urban Water Student Leadership Committee: an hour on leadership, and on how young people’s voices can shape government. The seminar ran in person in Toronto and online, and both speakers joined live by video, from Japan and New Zealand.
Speakers
Suzuka Nakamura
Director of the Borderless Foundation, founder of KNOW NUKES TOKYO, and one of the UN Youth Office’s Young Leaders for the SDGs.
Profile of Suzuka Nakamura, United Nations Youth Office (opens in a new tab)
Tom Rutherford
Member of Parliament for Bay of Plenty, New Zealand, elected in 2023 as the youngest MP in the government.
Profile of Tom Rutherford, New Zealand National Party (opens in a new tab)
From the day
