Canadian group targeting bottled water

VICTORIA, British Columbia, March 8 (UPI) -- The Federation of Canadian Municipalities says officials should ban the sale of bottled water at public city events or in civic buildings.

Federation President Jean Perrault said at a meeting in Victoria Saturday that the civic advocacy group has adopted a resolution calling for regulations on the sale and purchase of bottled water, the Canwest News Service reported Sunday.

"We want to lead by example," Perrault said. "And the first example is to work with our employees and after that try to influence" citizens.

The organization's resolution claims Canadian tap water is safe enough to drink thanks to strict regulations and that up to 80 percent of all bottled water containers are not properly recycled, Canwest said.

"What was clear to us is that we still have many of our municipalities on boil orders for their water. So this is also an opportunity for us to advocate for proper infrastructure money to make sure that, as a first priority, all municipalities have access to quality water," Toronto Councilor Pam McConnell said of the resolution,.