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UNITED NATIONS SESSION ON THE RIGHT TO WATERResolution passes overwhelmingly. 122 yes, 41 abstentions, 0 no!VIDEO: In Historic Vote, UN DeclaresWater a Fundamental Human Right: BLOG: Canada must acknowledge international recognition of water as a human right MEDIA: Council of Canadians celebrates UN General Assembly recognition of human right to water, The Council of Canadians, July 28, 2010 AUDIO: Maude Barlow on Vermont Public Radio, 'UN Water Expert Returns To Vermont', July 29, 2010 NEWS: Deutsche Welle report on the UN vote with Maude Barlow, Deutsche Welle, July 29, 2010 NEWS: Ottawa wary over UN water rights vote, National Post, July 28, 2010 Canada's water supply not threatened by UN water rights vote: Activist, Calgary Herald, July 28, 2010 NEWS: UN declares water, sanitation as human rights, Montreal Gazette, July 28, 2010 SPEECH: “The Human Right to Water and Sanitation” Intervention of the Permanent Representative of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, Ambassador Pablo Solon, July 28, 2010 BLOG: General Assembly recognizes access to clean water and sanitation is a human right BLOG: UN declares water, sanitation as human rights BLOG: WIN! United Nations passes right to water resolution
Photo: Council of Canadians Blue Planet Project organizer Anil Naidoo, chairperson Maude Barlow, national water campaigner Meera Karunananthan at the UN General Assembly before the historic session on the right to water on July 28, 2010.
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On July 28, 2010, the United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly agreed to a resolution declaring the human right to “safe and clean drinking water and sanitation.” The resolution, presented by the Bolivian government, had 122 countries vote in its favour, while 41 countries – including Canada – abstained.
Schedule 2
3 World Water Wins
Maude Barlow spoke on 'Paani' at Cannes Film Festival
Women and Water in Canada: The Significance of Privatization and Commercialization Trends for Women’s Health
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PROTESTS AT THE MINISTERIALS: We spoke out against the G7, G8 and G20 ministerials in Iqaluit, Gatineau, and Halifax leading up to the summits in Huntsville and Toronto. | |
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SCRAP THE SUMMITS: Our ’scrap the summits’ and ‘these meetings should be moved to the UN’ message appeared in many commentaries, editorials, speeches and common discourse. | |
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EAR PLUGS TO COUNTER LRADS: We quickly challenged the infringement on civil liberties by the Toronto police and their purchase of LRADs by handing out free ear-plugs. | |
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ON-LINE POLL: We asked people through an on-line poll if the billion dollars spent on the summits was a good use of public money. 53 people said ‘yes’, 21 said they ‘don’t know’, and an overwhelming 823 said ‘no’. |
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RIDICULING THE FAKE LAKE: We repeatedly highlighted in the media the folly of $2 million spent on the construction of a fake lake for the G20 summit. | |
| THE PEOPLES SUMMIT: We were a large part of the Peoples Summit, with Maude Barlow opening the forum and numerous staff offering workshops on key issues to many people. | ||
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SUMMITS EXPENSE CLOCK: From Friday morning at 9 am to Sunday afternoon at 12 noon, we had a ‘summits expense clock’ on our website that gave a second-by-second tally of the $1.24 billion spent on the summits. More on that here. | |
| CANOE PROTEST: We were in numerous newspapers and television news reports when we took to canoes to take our ’scrap the summits’ message to the Deerhurst Resort near Huntsville. | ||
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CHALLENGING THE FIVE-METRE LAW: We challenged the law brought in for the summit that anyone has to produce identification and state their purpose for being within 5 metres of the security fence, by measuring 5 metres out from the fence and marking the line with yellow tape for the media. | |
SHOUT OUT FOR GLOBAL JUSTICE: We sold out Massey Hall and had an incredible line-up of powerful speakers (the real world leaders) address the 2,700 people in attendance as well as many others who watched the forum by web-cast in communities across Canada and at the US Social Forum in Detroit. Click here to see a photostream and multimedia. |
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PEOPLE FIRST RALLY AND MARCH: We joined with 25,000 others for a peaceful march through the city on Saturday afternoon. Click here to see a photostream |
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| And now we are calling for a PUBLIC INQUIRY into the policing actions and security operations during the G20 summit in Toronto. More on that here. | ||
To see a photo gallery and find links to videos for our Shout Out for Global Justice! event, please go here. A photo gallery for the People's First march and rally can be found here.
Read more analysis about the G8 and G20 Summits on the Campaign, Trade and Energy blogs.
MEDIA: New interactive website shines spotlight on 'The Real G8/G20', July 8, 2010
Council of Canadians challenges Canada-EU free trade deal
In May 2009, negotiations were launched for a Canada-European Union trade agreement.
Canadian corporations are looking for better access to the European market without having to meet stricter EU rules. European negotiators want Canadian services contracts, with the aim of transferring the $100 to $200 billion our local governments spend annually on goods and services into corporate profits.
An agreement with the European Union would put pressure on provincial governments to privatize public services, including in areas such as water, transportation, child care and public health care.
We need to put the brakes on this deal before negotiations can conclude in 2011. Read more »
Read blog posts from Brussels by Brent Patterson, Director of Campaigns and Communications.
MEDIA: Council of Canadians to challenge Canada-EU trade deal in Brussels, July 9, 2010
Open Civil Society Declaration: On a proposed Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between Canada and the European Union. Read and add your organization to this statement here »
Letter endorsed by civil society groups on the inadequacy of the government’s Canada-EU trade briefings, February 23, 2010
Tweet-In 4 Colombia
On May 25, 2010, Council of Canadians had its third Tweet-In 4 Colombia as Canada’s trade committee heard from various witnesses for and against an FTA. Council of Canadians' board member Steven Shrybman presented on the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement. On Tuesday, May 11, our first Tweet-In stopped the Harper Conservatives from moving to SHUT DOWN DEBATE by the Standing Committee on International Trade on the Canada-Colombia free trade agreement. On Thursday May 13, we were on Twitter again as the Committee heard from Barbara Wood, Executive Director of Co-Development Canada and Council of Canadians Director of Organizing Carleen Pickard. By tweeting the words and actions of our MPs in real time we gave tens of thousands of people who could not be at the trade committee meeting in person updates on what was happening on the room as well as encouraged then to take action. Read more here.
Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement (TILMA)
Saskatchewan joins the TILMA club without public consultation
On May 31, 2010, the governments of Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia signed an agreement called the New West Partnership but we might as well call it by its true name: TILMA. The “partnership” is nothing but the Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement with a new name and all the same negative consequences for Saskatchewan. Read more here.
'Corporate profits or human rights?' public forum
On April 8, 2010 the Council of Canadians participated in a public forum in Toronto to rally opposition to the Canada Colombia Free Trade Agreement.
Carleen Pickard, our Director of Organizing, spoke to the more than 200 people assembled about the need to reject the 'Brison deal' aimed at getting Bill C-2 through parliament. To take action on this, click here.
Carleen was also recently in Colombia on a pre-electoral observation mission. The report from that mission is here.
To read her blog on last night's forum, click here.
International Pre-Electoral Observation Mission to Colombia questions timing of Canada–Colombia Free Trade Agreement
As the Canadian Parliament considers ratifying the Canada–Colombia Free Trade Agreement (Bill C-2), a recently returned international mission of pre-election observers (including Carleen Pickard of the Council of Canadians) released its final report on Saturday March 13 which concludes:
“The serious concerns raised by the pre-electoral mission combined with the ongoing human rights violations and the continued climate of impunity in Colombia further support the immediate halt of the CCFTA and the call for an independent and comprehensive human rights impact assessment. Canada entering into a free trade agreement with Colombia now not only sends the wrong message to Canadians and the Colombian regime, it also may make Canada and Canadian companies complicit or passive supporters of continued violence in Colombia.”
Read the full media release here.
WIN! Public pressure leads to hearings on Canada-US procurement deal
Thanks to everyone who responded to our February 22 Action Alert, ‘We need parliamentary and provincial hearings on Buy American deal’. NDP trade critic Peter Julian, one of a dozen MPs on the federal trade committee who received a copy of your letters to Van Loan, motioned the Commons Committee on International Trade (CIIT) to hold hearings into the deal. Read more »
ACTION ALERT: We need more than business input on trade and procurement agreements
Opening remarks to the Standing Committee on International Trade Re: Canada-U.S. Trade Relations, Scott Sinclair, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, March 16, 2010
Presentation to the Standing Committee on International Trade Re: Canada-U.S. Trade Relations, Teresa Healy, Canadian Labour Congress March 16, 2010
VIDEO: Stuart Trew, Trade Campaigner for The Council of Canadians, against trade lawyer, Chuck Gastle, on the Buy American deal and WTO procurement, Business News Network, February 11, 2010
MEDIA RELEASE: Council of Canadians and CUPE release leaked ‘Buy American’ agreement
MEDIA RELEASE: Walk away from ‘Buy American’ deal, urges Maude Barlow in open letter to premiers
OP-ED: Don't celebrate this deal, Ottawa Citizen, Maude Barlow and Stuart Trew, February 6, 2010
STATEMENT on public procurement and other resources »
Related blog posts:- UPDATE: Why we leaked the ‘Buy American’ deal (and what the heck is the GPA, anyway?)
- Buy American, Trade Blog by Stuart Trew, Trade Campaigner at the Council of Canadians
- Trade and Buy American, Campaign Blog by Brent Patterson, Director of Campaigns and Communications at the Council of Canadians
Arctic: Moratorium Now!
The devastating BP spill off the Gulf of Mexico has awakened our collective consciousness to the serious risks of offshore drilling. Images of oil soaked wetlands, dying birds and animals and firsthand accounts of jobs and livelihoods lost are just the start of what will be long-lasting impacts of this environmental catastrophe.
With the discovery of 90 billion barrels of oil and 1,670 trillion cubic feet of natural gas under melting ice, the Arctic is increasingly being viewed as a final frontier for fossil fuel development. More than 80 per cent of the oil and gas is found offshore. Read more about the Arctic here.
MEDIA: Lessons learned from BP disaster – Arctic moratorium needed, June 9, 2010
MEDIA: Arctic Ocean Foreign Ministers told leave it in the ground, March 29, 2010
Photo: The Council of Canadians holding a ''Leave it in the Ground" banner just 20 metres from the road where Foreign Ministers passed to get to the Arctic Summit in Chelsea, Quebec. See photostream »Council of Canadians at the United Nations
Just minutes ago the Council of Canadians hand-delivered an open letter to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at the Chateau Laurier in Ottawa outlining concerns with Prime Minister Stephen Harper's bid for Canada to have a seat on the UN Security Council during the 2011-2012 term. The letter points to the Harper government's refusal to recognize water as a human right, its opposition to the UN Declaration on Indigenous Rights, and its failure to commit to deep emission cuts to address climate change as reasons to deny Canada the seat.
To read the open letter, go here. To read our media release, go here.
A media release issued by the Bolivian government on May 6 states that, “On the morning of Friday, May 7th, President Evo Morales of Bolivia will personally present UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon with the conclusions of the World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of the Mother Earth, which was held in Cochabamba, Bolivia from April 20th to 22nd, 2010.” Read more »
The Peoples Agreement - The path to save Mother Earth from climate destruction, May 7, 2010
MEDIA: UN Secretary General to meet with Maude Barlow today, May 7, 2010
Photos: 1) United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon accepting open letter from Brent Patterson, Director of Campaigns and Communications 2) Council of Canadians chairperson Maude Barlow and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at the UN in New York.
The climate justice movement grew dramatically in strength during the Copenhagen climate negotiations. While official talks failed to produce a strong agreement on deep emission cuts, the global mobilization for climate justice continues to grow.
To advance an agenda based on effective and just solutions to the climate crisis, the Bolivian, government hosted a Peoples’ Conference on Climate Change and Rights of Mother Earth April 19-22, 2010. Alongside an open invitation to social movements, civil society and environmental organizations, academics and scientists, all 192 governments in the UN have been invited to attend and encouraged to listen to the voices of civil society.
The Council of Canadians National Chairperson Maude Barlow and staff members Brent Patterson, Anil Naidoo and Andrea Harden-Donahue were in Cochabamba to host a workshop, issue regular posts including news updates, action alerts, media releases, blogs and more. See updates from Cochabamba »
From Copenhagen to Cochabamba, Ottawa Citizen, Andrea Harden-Donahue, April 26, 2010
Press release: Canadian government must be at historic climate conference in Bolivia, April 7, 2010
Maude Barlow was formally invited by the Bolivian government to speak in a main plenary panel at the historic Cochabamba conference. Maude joined Patrick Mooney, Timothy Byakola, Jose Bové, Alberto Gómez Flores, Hildebrando Vélez, and moderator Duttga Soumya in the Forests, food and water under climate change panel on April 20. Watch the video here.
VIDEO: Maude Barlow discusses glaciers, climate change and water in Cochabamba with Amy Goodman, Democracy Now! April 22, 2010
Photo: (L-R) - Brent Patterson (Director of Campaigns and Communications), Andrea Harden-Donahue (Energy Campaigner) , and Maude Barlow (National Chairperson) proudly holding the Council of Canadians' banner in Cochabamba on April 22, 2010.
Open letter to Prime Minister Harper, Cochabamba Climate Change Conference, April 7, 2010
Read more about climate justice »
WIN! NB Power sale scrapped!
The Globe and Mail reports this morning that, "New Brunswick Premier Shawn Graham has succumbed to overwhelming political pressure and cancelled a controversial $3.2-billion sale of New Brunswick Power generating stations to Hydro-Québec."
Graham said, "I am announcing this morning that we are no longer proceeding with discussions to finalize the energy agreement with Hydro-Québec."
CTV adds, "He delivered the unexpected announcement in the legislature today. ...The changes came after public outcry in New Brunswick and dissent from within Graham's Liberal caucus."
The Council of Canadians has opposed the sale of NB Power from the moment the proposed sale was announced in October. Read more here »
PHOTO: NB Power rally in Fredericton on March 20
On the road in Nova Scotia for Green Jobs
Our Energy Campaigner, Andrea Harden-Donahue, visited Halifax mid-March to engage with local residents, activists and organizations, to initiate, through NSEN, an exciting and promising discussion on green job potential in Nova Scotia.
Read more about the events and a public event hosted by NSEN and the Council of Canadians, A Green Collar Economy: Innovative Ideas for Social Change in Nova Scotia here »
WIN! Bute hydro project delayed in British Columbia
Plutonic Power and GE will delay construction of their controversial private power hydro electric project for a year. Opponents of the so called “run of river” projects have targeted the development of Bute Inlet, pointing to the massive environmental damage the construction would cause and back door privatization of BC’s energy services.
“Don’t be fooled or confused; the run-of-river projects should more aptly be called ‘ruin-of-river’. They are not green, not public, and not for us.” – Maude Barlow, Georgia Straight
Read more »
Green Decent and Public
The Council of Canadians, working with the Canadian Labour Congress, have produced Green Decent and Public, a report focused on the distinct opportunities of the public sector to play a prominent role in generating decent green jobs.
Green Decent Public focuses in particular on the opportunities in improving energy efficiency and rapidly expanding electricity produced from renewable resources. Read more »
Harper's assault on democracy
Author and Rabble.ca columnist Murray Dobbin details the harm Prime Minister Stephen Harper is doing to the political and social fabric of Canada in a new, hard-hitting essay commissioned by the Council of Canadians titled Harper’s Hitlist: Power, Process and the Assault on Democracy.
As Dobbin explains in the opening paragraphs of the essay, “This study is intended to examine the most serious violations of democracy committed by the prime minister and his government. Some are clearly more serious than others. But taken as a whole they add up to a dangerous undermining of our democratic traditions, institutions and precedents – and politics. These violations are not accidental, they are not incidental, and they are not oversights or simply the sign of an impatient government or ‘decisive’ leadership. They are a fundamental part of Harper’s iron-fisted determination to remake Canada, whether Canadians like it or not.”
POLL: Environics, on behalf of the Council of Canadians, polled people about their feelings about proportional representation in February. Here are the results:
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61% of Canadians support moving to a system of proportional representation in Parliament
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36% said they were more supportive of proportional representation as a result of Prime Minister Harper’s recent prorogations
(These results represent the findings of a telephone survey conducted among a national random sample of 1,001 adults comprising 501 males and 500 females 18 years of age and older, living in Canada. The margin of error for a sample of this size is +/- 3.10%, 19 times out of 20.)
Keep informed:
