 
A 15-city speaking tour, January 12 - 30, 2009
The Council of Canadians and CUPE Ontario are hosting an educational tour to encourage more municipalities and other institutions to take practical action to “Unbottle It!,” and tap into clean, safe, public water. Maude Barlow, Council of Canadians’ Chairperson and Senior Advisor on Water to the President of the UN General Assembly, and Sid Ryan, CUPE Ontario President, will be touring 15 Ontario communities to raise awareness about this important issue and encourage people into action. More »
Read a copy of her remarks here »
Read the synopsis of yesterday's 'Press Conference by General Assembly President on Water-Related Human Rights' with Maude and Father Miguel here »
Watch the press conference here » (RealPlayer)
United Nations General Assembly President endorses the right to water
In his 'Closing remarks at the Inter-Active Panel to Commemorate the Sixtieth Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights' today, Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann, the President of the United Nations General Assembly said, "We should recognize that the right to water is a human right, and water cannot therefore be treated as a commodity that is bought and sold. The right to water should unite us in building a new model of sustainable human development."
His full speech can be read here »
Our Water Commons - Toward a new freshwater narrative
The Council of Canadians has just launched an exciting new report titled Our Water Commons: Toward a new freshwater narrative. Written by Maude Barlow, National Chairperson of the Council of Canadians and recently appointed Senior Advisor on Water Issues to the President of the General Assembly of the United Nations, Our Water Commons is part of the ongoing work to bring together key activists, writers and thinkers to address the global water crisis by naming and reclaiming the freshwater commons. More »
The Council of Canadians supports the call for a coalition government. We believe that a coalition government is a legitimate and democratic option in this minority Parliament, that it would best reflect the concerns of the majority of Canadians, and that it is best suited to deal with the current economic crisis. We encourage our members and supporters to promote this call for a coalition government in their community. More »
The Council of Canadians has found that 77 percent of Canadians want the draft text of a sweeping new Canada-European Union trade deal made public before the October 14 federal election vote, in a poll conducted by Strategic Communications. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has reportedly decided not to release the draft text and internal study of the trade deal that is said to exceed NAFTA in scope, despite talks on the deal that will take place in Montreal just three days after the election. The poll also shows that 67 per cent of Conservative voters believe that the draft text should be released right away. More »
 Read the full poll results (PDF) »
Take Action: Release the Canada-EU 'deep economic integration' text!
The Council of Canadians and MiningWatch Canada have made public a report drafted by Environment Canada in December 2007 revealing that the agency had documented crucial information regarding the looming freshwater crisis in Canada.
The report, titled “A Federal Perspective on Water Quantity Issues,” which was obtained through an Access To Information request warns "there may be heightened risk for jurisdictional conflict for water allocation between provinces and also between Canada and the United States." More »
Read the Report (PDF) »
Council of Canadians' election coverage; with issues analysis, questions for the candidates, our election blog, and More »
Q: When is a lake not a lake?
A: When the Canadian Government says it should be a dump for mine waste.
Lakes that would normally be protected as fish habitat by the Fisheries Act are now being redefined as “tailing impoundment areas” according to a 2002 “schedule” added to the Metal Mining Effluent Regulations of the Act. Once added to Schedule 2, healthy freshwater lakes lose all protection and become dump sites for mining waste. In 2006, two lakes in Newfoundland were added to Schedule 2 and more recently two lakes in Nunavut were approved for destruction.
 |
Online Poll: Should Canadian lakes be used as dump sites for mining corporations?
View poll results
|
Click here for Environment Canada’s list of 11 lakes proposed for destruction.
Take Action! Sandy Pond, near Long Harbour, N.L., is next on the hit list. The mine tailings that Vale Inco plans to dump into the lake will destroy the lake, causing irreversible damage. Save Newfoundland's Sandy Pond and tell our government that lakes should not be used as dump sites.
 Not Counting Canadians: The Security and Prosperity Partnership and public opinion
On April 21, 2008, Prime Minister Stephen Harper traveled to New Orleans to attend the fourth annual North American Leaders’ Summit to discuss progress to the Security and Prosperity Partnership
(SPP) with his American and Mexican counterparts. It has been four years since this process began, and no one beyond an elite group of corporate CEOs has been asked how they feel about the SPP—until now.
» Click here to read the report.
Click here to read a letter to Prime Minister Harper demanding a debate on the SPP, which was signed by Maude Barlow (Council of Canadians), David Suzuki, Ken Georgetti (Canadian Labour Congress), and Maher Arar and Monia Mazigh.
Visit IntegrateThis.ca for SPP updates, to download audio, video and to read more about the SPP.
|
Maude Barlow, Senior Advisor on Water Issues to the President of the General Assembly, speaks to a UN Human Rights Panel in New York
