A global movement to grant rivers legal personhood recently reached Canada, and a local Indigenous leader is asking whether the Gatineau River could be next. Former Kitigan Zibi Anishinābeg chief Gilbert Whiteduck said such legal designation would provide the Gatineau River better environmental protection, and he's "pushing" to make it a reality. The movement, which is largely led by Indigenous communities, environmental groups and scientists, is designed to afford rivers and other ecological features stronger legal protections by granting them rights normally reserved for people.

Amos 5:24 states “But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” Beyond being used as a metaphor, water itself is a justice issue. Two billion people in the world lack access to safe drinking water at home. At the 11th Assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC), the Rev. Elias Wolff, from Brazil, talks about the situation in his own country. “Brazil has 12% of the world’s fresh water, and 53% of the fresh water of Latin America. But 35 million people in Brazil have no access to fresh water, and 100 million lack access to sanitation infrastructure.”