Take Action! Tell the federal government “Don’t frack with our water!”
Fracking is a controversial method of extracting natural gas that is trapped deep inside shale rock formations. Millions of litres of water, sand, and tens of thousands of litres of toxic chemicals are blasted into the ground at extremely high pressure, creating cracks that allow pockets of natural gas to be released.
Communities across Canada are saying “no” to these projects. Council of Canadians members and chapter activists have been at the forefront of fights to stop this dangerous industry and protect their water from contamination from the toxic chemicals used in the fracking process.
Sign our “Don’t frack with our water petition” and tell Prime Minister Stephen Harper that the federal government has a responsibility under federal laws – such as the Environmental Protection Act and the Canada Water Act – to ban fracking until full safety reviews are conducted. Fracking has serious health and environmental impacts and puts people’s well-being and health at risk. The federal government has a duty to protect the safety of Canadians.
The University of Alberta has announced that on March 1 it will award an honorary degree to Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, the Chair of Nestlé, the world’s largest multinational food and water corporation and the largest bottled water corporation in the world.
While the university claims that the honorary degree will honour those who have contributed to “the preservation, distribution and management of one of humanity’s most vital resources: water,” the reality is that Nestlé is one of the biggest global voices pushing for the privatization and commodification of water worldwide, is the largest player in the bottled water industry and is depleting aquifers in communities throughout North America to bottle and sell, is the target of global boycotts for its marketing of breast milk substitutes in violation of international standards, has a long list of labour violations in countries all over the world, and is currently involved in a court case in which Nestlé has admitted it hired agents to spy on the French activist group ATTAC. More information on Nestlé’s corporate practices and how you can take action »
The controversial practice of hydraulic fracturing, otherwise known as fracking, is facing mounting opposition across the country. A new Environics Research poll commissioned by the Council of Canadians has found that 62% of Canadians support “a moratorium on all fracking for natural gas until all the federal environmental reviews are complete”. Read media release here.
Fracking is expanding at a phenomenal rate across Canada. From the advanced projects in the Horn River Basin to industry land grabs in Ontario and Newfoundland, a full picture of fracking in Canada is only beginning to emerge. The fracker tracker is an interactive tool that maps where fracking is happening in Canada. The information provided by governments and industry sometimes provides an incomplete picture on what’s happening. The fracker tracker is intended to be used by people tracking the industry to help give a sense of the status of fracking in Canada. It is an interactive map where you can provide information about a project in your community or province. To see the Fracker Tracker, click here.
A municipality can become a Blue Community by: 1) recognizing water as a human right; 2) promoting publicly financed, owned and operated water and wastewater services; and 3) banning the sale of bottled water in public facilities and at municipal events. Burnaby has now adopted resolutions affirming these three criteria.
Through the Blue Communities Project we provide community leaders and activists the tools to resist public-private partnerships, promote water as human right at the local level, and ban the sale of bottled water in public spaces. More about the The Blue Communities Project »
The Council of Canadians, Climate Action Network Canada and the Indigenous Environmental Network have been meeting with Ottawa-based EU Embassies to counteract Canadian lobbying against an important European climate policy.
The Canadian Government, along with industry allies and the Alberta Government, have launched a coordinated lobby attack on the EU Fuel Quality Directive This attack, run as “The Oil Sands Advocacy Strategy” and led by the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, is dangerous and irresponsible in the face of global climate change.
The three civil society organizations will meet with Ambassadors and staff of more than ten Embassies to discuss the importance of the policy and directly debunk common industry and government lobby points regarding discrimination, carbon intensity of tar sands, and trade concerns.
In addition to their discussions a kit of information is shared including an open letter endorsed by organizations representing millions of Canadians that denounces Canadian lobbying efforts and support the EU policy.
Read the open letter and information kit here. Read the media release here.
It is a sweet victory. President Barack Obama has listened to his people and his better nature and rejected the Keystone Pipeline. In spite of a massive campaign south of the border by the federal and Alberta governments and the energy industry, which included expensive wall-to-wall television ads, common sense has won the day. Read more »
Check out our an exciting new multimedia education project, System Change not Climate Change! SystemChange.ca is a multi-media tool for climate justice organized by the Council of Canadians’ Climate Justice for People and the Planet campaign.
OP-ED by Maude Barlow and Paul Moist,
February 2, 2012
European trade negotiators are in Ottawa this week to continue talks with their Canadian counterparts toward a Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). According to most accounts, the negotiations are winding down with differences in only a few areas. In Davos last week, at the World Economic Forum, Prime Minister Harper repeated his desire to have a deal in place by the end of the year.
Read more »
The Council of Canadians and Canadian Union of Public Employees have released a briefing note on recently leaked documents related to ongoing Canada-European Union free trade negotiations. The documents show that Canada and the provinces have failed to protect drinking water and wastewater services from trade rules that would encourage and lock in privatization.
Canada's municipalities deserve a say in the CETA negotiations. A growing number of municipalities, school boards and municipal associations have raised concerns about CETA’s procurement chapter. Most of them want to see the municipal sector excluded entirely from the deal. In total, more than 30 cities, towns, school boards and municipal associations in eight provinces have passed resolutions on CETA.
Toronto councillors and community groups hauled a giant Trojan Horse in front of City Hall this morning to warn about the hidden dangers in a proposed Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) a day ahead of an executive committee meeting that will consider whether the city should be excluded altogether from the deal. Read more »
CETA is by far the largest free-trade deal this country has ever undertaken. Read more at www.canadians.org/ceta»
Send a letter today to Federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq, Health Critic Libby Davies, your Premier and provincial Minister of Health asking them to improve public health care for all Canadians through the 2014 Health Care Accord at www.canadians.org/2014accord.
Toronto – The Harper government let down millions of Canadians this week by effectively walking away from the opportunity to craft a 2014 Health Accord that brings real reform to our health care system. Read more »
The Council of Canadians supports the Occupy movement.
The world-wide occupations seek to draw attention to the corporate control of our economy, and the resulting wealth inequalities, austerity measures, environmental harms, loss of democratic rights, and exclusion of popular voices.
It began with Occupy Wall Street, inspired by the Arab Spring approach of occupying a public space. The Occupy movement has consistently emphasized non-violence, consensus decision-making, and the broadest inclusion of people. It says the one thing we all have in common is that, ‘We Are The 99% that will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1%’.
Council of Canadians members, chapter activists, Board members, and staff will be at Occupy locations across Canada on Saturday October 15 and beyond. These locations include:
BRITISH COLUMBIA
Campbell River
Courtenay
Duncan
Kelowna
Kamloops
Nanaimo
Nelson
Vancouver
Victoria
PRAIRIES
Calgary
Edmonton
Lethbridge
Red Deer
Regina
Winnipeg
ONTARIO-QUEBEC
Kingston
London
Montreal
Ottawa
Toronto
ATLANTIC
Nova Scotia
Moncton
St. John's
During the recent Indignez-Vous! conference in Montreal, Council of Canadians chapter activists, Board directors, and staff visited Occupons/ Occupy Montreal to demonstrate our solidarity with them.
In the video you will see the Council of Canadians marching to the Occupy Montreal site at Square Victoria in Montreal's financial district, a short interview with chairperson Maude Barlow, and drumming by Board member Chief Garry John of the Seton Lake First Nation in British Columbia/ Coast Salish Territories.
The Council of Canadians helps to #Surround the White House to say NO to the Keystone XL pipeline
Council of Canadians chairperson Maude Barlow and Political Director Brent Patterson were in Washington, DC to join with 12,000 others to surround the White House and demand that US President Barack Obama say no to the Keystone XL pipeline.
The Rights of Nature: The Case for a Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth, launch in New York City on April 21, 2011. The book is published jointly by The Council of Canadians, Fundación Pachamama and Global Exchange (2011).
The book - The Rights of Nature: The Case for a Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth - can now be purchased on-line at canadians.org/rightsofnature.
The Council of Canadians and partners launched the book on April 21 in New York City and it can now be purchased through our website for $15 (tax, shipping and handling included). While buying the book, you can also make a donation to support our work and/or purchase a 1-year Council of Canadians’ membership for $45.
Multimedia
Canadian Perspectives editor Jan Malek was present at the UN for the 'Nature has Rights' debate and the 'The Right of Nature: The Case for a Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth' book launch from April 20-21, 2011 to report on the proceedings.
See updates on Twitter @CouncilofCDNs. Read Jan's blog posts:
Don’t frack with our water, say majority of Canadians in new poll
Toronto faces hidden threats from Canada-Europe trade deal, say councillors and community groups
