SECTIONS

TAKE IT BACK!
A peoples’ vision of North America

The Council of Canadians' 22nd Annual General Meeting
The Coast Capri Hotel, Kelowna, British Columbia
October 26-28, 2007

Workshops

1. A Waste of Energy: Canada and the SPP

Prime Minister Harper likes to say that Canada is becoming an energy superpower. If that is true, we are a strange superpower indeed. What kind of energy superpower has no policy to direct and develop its own resources? What kind of superpower depends on another nation to decide on its priorities? What kind of energy superpower has to import half of its own energy needs? What kind of superpower cannot guarantee resource access to its own citizens, and tolerates environmental disasters on its own territory?

Further energy integration under the SPP won’t provide the answers to these questions – it is part of the problem. In this workshop Jean-Yves LeFort (trade campaigner), Lyn Gorman (regional organizer), and Gordon Laxer (board member) will take a stab at some real solutions.

'Freezing in the dark?' (PDF) powerpoint presentation by Gordon Laxer, Parkland Institute Director and member of the Board of Directors of the Council of Canadians, explains why Canada needs an energy security plan. October 2007.

2. Nightmare on Ash Street: The proliferation of private clinics in British Columbia

Private, for-profit clinics have mushroomed rapidly in British Columbia. Dr. Brian Day’s Cambie Surgery Centre opened in 1996 on Vancouver’s Ash Street, and just this year, Dr. Mark Godley opened his Urgent Care Centre, the first private for-profit emergency clinic in Canada. These private, for-profit clinics are offering health care for a price. Private clinic owners take advantage of government inaction at both the provincial and federal levels, contravening the B.C. Medicare Protection Act and the Canada Health Act.

This workshop will detail the rise of B.C. private clinics, how they are treated by provincial legislation, how they set an example for the rest of Canada (particularly Quebec) and finally, how they relate to the Canada Health Act and its five principles.

Workshop participants will be asked to share their own experiences on perceived violations to the Canada Health Act. This will be used by the national campaign as we initiate discussions with Health Canada to facilitate reporting such violations. Join Guy Caron (health care campaigner), Leslie Dickout (B.C. Health Coalition), Carleen Pickard (regional organizer) and Steven Shrybman (board member).

3. TILMA: Coming soon to a community near you?

On April 1, 2007, a new free trade pact went into effect between Alberta and B.C. It’s called the Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement (TILMA) and it will have a devastating effect on local democracy, public health and the environment. While currently confined to Western Canada, provincial governments in Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan and the Maritimes have all expressed interest in signing on.

Some U.S. states have also shown an interest in joining TILMA. This would lead to massive deregulation in Canada, triggered by further harmonization with the United States.

Opposition to TILMA continues to grow thanks to intense local action from chapter activists in B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario. Learn more about the agreement and its impacts. Hear about the British Columbia experience of fighting TILMA and learn valuable skills for fighting this trade agreement if your province considers signing on!

Presenters: Carleen Pickard (regional organizer), Caelie Frampton (Stop TILMA coalition campaigner) and Martha Robbins (board member).

4. Water Workshop on Wheels

Across Canada, our rivers and lakes are under pressure. We need water for communities, to support our economy, and for recreation. How do we balance these needs and ensure that we make sustainable water management a priority?  The Okanagan is the source of drinking water for Kelowna and is also a source of water for industry, agriculture and hydro power generation.

Join Susan Howatt (national water campaigner), a local Kelowna expert (to be confirmed), Chief Garry John (board member) and Cliff White (regional organizer) on a bus tour to the top of beautiful Knox Mountain to explore issues of sustainability and how we can protect our water for people and nature. Walking shoes are recommended.

5. The Fight for Global Water Justice: What can you do? What must Canada do?

Water, the most precious of gifts, continues to be diverted, depleted and polluted. The crisis is deepening for billions, compounded by climate change, population growth and the continued threat of commodification. The impacts are deadlier than ever, but there is hope.

A vibrant international movement is challenging the corporate control of this precious resource, and defending water as a public good and an inalienable right. Around the world communities are resisting and winning. The private sector is in disarray as schemes unravel and momentum for water as a human right grows.

Canada does not recognize the right to water, and as a result is increasingly isolated internationally. This workshop will explore the global context for the human right to water and explore how activists can work to make sure Canada changes its international position on this issue. Join Anil Naidoo (organizer of the Blue Planet Project) and Eduardo Sousa (regional organizer) to learn about the strategies adopted by the BPP and the global water movement.

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