Democracy Now! reports that, “The United Nations General Assembly has declared for the first time that access to clean water and sanitation is a fundamental human right. In a historic vote Wednesday, 122 countries supported the resolution, and over forty countries abstained from voting, including the United States, Canada and several European and other industrialized countries. There were no votes against the resolution. We speak with longtime water justice activist, Maude Barlow.”

To see Maude interviewed by Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman, please go to http://www.democracynow.org/seo/2010/7/29/in_historic_vote_un_declares_access.

You will also see in this video a powerful clip of Bolivian Ambassador Pablo Solon talking about the right to water resolution just four weeks ago at our ‘Shout out for Global Justice’ public forum in Toronto on the eve of the G20 summit there.

Photo: Karunananthan, Barlow and Naidoo watch as the vote takes place.

The UN News Centre reports today that:

Safe and clean drinking water and sanitation is a human right essential to the full enjoyment of life and all other human rights, the General Assembly declared today, voicing deep concern that almost 900 million people worldwide do not have access to clean water.

The 192-member Assembly also called on United Nations Member States and international organizations to offer funding, technology and other resources to help poorer countries scale up their efforts to provide clean, accessible and affordable drinking water and sanitation for everyone.

The Assembly resolution received 122 votes in favour and zero votes against, while 41 countries abstained from voting.

Council of Canadians Blue Planet Project organizer Anil Naidoo, chairperson Maude Barlow, national water campaigner Meera Karunananthan at the UN General Assembly this morning before the historic session on the right to water.

The Montreal Gazette reports this hour that:

Access to clean water and sanitation was declared a human right Wednesday after a vote aimed at helping the world’s neediest, passed unanimously at the United Nations.

Although the motion passed with 124 countries voting in favour of the resolution drafted by Bolivia, Canada was among the 41 nations to abstain on the issue.

In June, Bolivia’s draft resolution indicated that global water rights would “entitle everyone to available, safe, acceptable, accessible and affordable water and sanitation.”

Maude Barlow, chairwoman of Food and Water Watch — a Washington-based group — who previously sat as a senior adviser to the United Nations General Assembly on the water issue, said Wednesday’s vote was groundbreaking.

At about 11:00 am EST this morning, the United Nations General Assembly voted to recognize the right to water and sanitation.

The resolution passed overwhelmingly. The unofficial vote count was 122 yes, 41 abstentions, 0 no.

Canada abstained.

Council of Canadians chairperson Maude Barlow, Blue Planet Project organizer Anil Naidoo, and national water campaigner Meera Karunananthan were at the General Assembly session for the historic vote.

More on this to come shortly. For more information, further analysis, and the text of the resolution - plus photos from today - please go to www.canadians.org.

MEDIA: Council of Canadians celebrates UN General Assembly recognition of human right to water, The Council of Canadians, July 28, 2010

The Vancouver Sun reports today that, “Canadian and U.S. government experts met quietly in Ottawa (on July 22) to begin trying to resolve a long-standing boundary dispute in the Beaufort Sea, a Canadian diplomat revealed Monday.”

“The two countries have disagreed since the 1970s over where to draw the ocean border. It’s a conflict that flares whenever fisheries management, oil-and-gas exploration or other resource development issues arise in the region. …(And) because the two countries are working to expand their seabed domains in the central and northern Beaufort — also potential petroleum targets — an area much larger than the traditional dispute zone is coming into play.”

One of the Harper government’s main objectives in the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement negotiations appears to be ending European Union restrictions on the import of hormone-treated beef from Canada.

HEALTH RISKS

There has been strong opposition in Europe to hormone-treated beef due to its associated health risks. Studies indicate that for women it can make them more susceptible to breast cancer and other cancers, for pregnant women it can affect the development of male fetuses, and for men it can lead to an increased risk of prostate cancer. More on that in this London Daily Mail news article from 2006, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-393666/Alarm-beef-link-breast-cancer.html.

More on the health impacts can also be read on the Beyond Factory Farming website at http://beyondfactoryfarming.org/get-informed/health/hormones.

TRADE TIME LINE

National water campaigner Meera Karunananthan

The Williams Lake Tribune reports that, “Assembly of First Nations (AFN) leaders from across Canada have backed National Chief Shawn Atleo’s call for the federal cabinet to reject the Prosperity gold and copper mine proposal near Williams Lake after more than a decade of study.”

“The AFN resolution passed (at their annual general assembly) in Winnipeg describes the Prosperity mine project as a test case. The chiefs’ assembly voted to ‘advise the federal government that First Nations across Canada are watching its decision to see whether there remains any value or integrity in environmental assessments for major projects, or whether First Nations must turn to litigation and other means to assert our rights and protect our cultures.’”

The ability of a country to implement an export restriction to protect their environment or to preserve an exhaustible natural resource is being challenged by the European Union.

The BNA WTO Reporter reports that, “The European Union has included a provision on raw material export restrictions in its trade agreement with Korea and will seek to include provisions in other bilateral and multilateral pacts, Seppo Nurmi, trade counselor to the European Union Delegation to the United States, said at a meeting of the Global Business Dialogue July 22. …Raw material restrictions are also an issue in ongoing bilateral trade negotiations with Ukraine, in particular in regard to the energy sector, Nurmi said.”

The following resolutions from the City of Burnaby will be going to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities Board meeting (on August 30-September 2 in Iqaluit) and to the Union of British Columbia Municipalities annual convention (on September 27-October 1 is Whistler).

The resolutions call on the FCM and the UBCM to “request that the Canadian government negotiate a clear, permanent exemption for municipalities from CETA.”

The resolutions argue that “unfettered access to Canadian municipal procurement by European corporations may encourage privatization and reduce economic development options for local communities…”

The FCM and UBCM (and other municipal associations) agreeing to this demand would be a critical blow to CETA.

The Globe and Mail reports today that, “Trade Minister Peter Van Loan and his American counterpart (US Trade Representative Ron Kirk) emerged from a bilateral meeting in Ottawa Thursday touting the merits of expanded international free trade.”

What did they agree on?

-  “their shared values and interests (in) resisting protectionist measures and promoting transparency”
-  “to get together twice a year to discuss any trade issues that arise between the neighbouring countries”
-  “a possible agreement on government procurement”
- “as of September, (that) Canada would take over the collection of a 10-per-cent duty that has been imposed on softwood products from Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba and Saskatchewan”
- “that (the Doha round of WTO talks) will be successfully concluded”

The full report is at http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-notebook/canada-us-trumpet-free-trade-progress/article1648842/.