Chapter Action Updates
Autumn 2011
Published in Canadian Perspectives Autumn 2011.
Challenging the destructive
tar sands
Council of Canadians staff, board members,
chapter activists and members joined
with hundreds of people on Parliament Hill
in Ottawa on September 26 to say “No!” to
the environmentally destructive tar sands.
Chapter activists from Quebec, Ontario
and Alberta waved Council banners and
signs, delivering a strong message to Prime
Minister Harper that the tar sands operations
are poisoning local waterways, land
and air. Council of Canadians National
Chairperson Maude Barlow, Council staff
and several chapter activists were among
the 200 arrested that day in a peaceful
showing of mass civil disobedience.
Chapters secure CETA resolutions
Months of diligent work by our chapters
and allies has resulted in a wave of
municipal councils, school boards and
other organizations passing resolutions
demanding public transparency about
what the federal and provincial governments
are putting on the table in negotiations
for a Comprehensive Economic and
Trade Agreement (CETA) with the EU.
Resolutions questioning and opposing
CETA are being passed across Canada.
Over the past several months, 13 municipal
resolutions have been passed in Nova Scotia
(Lunenberg), in Ontario (Brantford, Alnwick/
Haldimand, Trent Hills, Asphodel-Norwood,
Tecumseh, Windsor-Essex, Brockville and
London), and in British Columbia (Logan
Lake, Burnaby, North Vancouver and Trail),
thanks in large part to the grassroots efforts
of chapter activists and Council members.
Fracking fights across Canada
Council chapters have been active in the
fight against fracking, a controversial drilling
process used to extract natural gas
from shale, coal beds and “tight sands”
with vertical and horizontal drilling. In
Lethbrige, Alberta, chapter members
joined a protest calling on the provincial
government to ban fracking in the province.
Fracking operations contaminate
water and have been linked to serious
health concerns. Protesters supported calls
from First Nations Blood tribe members to
stop fracking projects on their lands.
Members of the Inverness County chapter
brought their concerns about fracking to
Nova Scotia’s Environment Minister after
the province’s Department of Energy
gave PetroWorth Resources the green light
to drill an exploratory well in West Lake
Ainslie. They also presented to their municipal
council, opposing a proposal to sell city
water to PetroWorth for drilling operations.
In New Brunswick, chapter members
from Moncton, Saint John and Tantramar
marched to city hall chanting “No!” to
hydro-fracking and shale gas exploration
in the province. Chapters are part of a
growing movement trying to stop the
invasive and polluting drilling practice.
Celebrating Blue Communities
Communities are turning “blue” right across
Canada. Chapters have been promoting
the Blue Communities Project in their
hometowns, encouraging municipalities to
recognize water as a human right, ban the
sales of bottled water in public facilities and
at municipal events, and commit to promoting
publicly financed, owned and operated
water and wastewater services.
The Blue Communities initiative is a
joint venture between the Council of
Canadians and CUPE and, in Quebec,
Eau Secours, and is aimed at strengthening
public water use. The initiative was
supported in British Columbia recently,
as municipal leaders from across the
province voted overwhelmingly in favour
of a Blue Communities resolution at the
Union of British Columbia Municipalities
conference. The resolution shows strong
support across B.C. for the idea of developing
more Blue Communities.
With strong lobbying from local chapter
members, four B.C. communities – Burnaby,
Victoria, Port Alberni and Mission – have
already become Blue Communities. Tiny
Township in Ontario is now a Blue Community
and Kingston, Ontario, and Pointe
Claire, Quebec, are also on their way to
becoming “blue.”
Chapter joins coalition for direct action conference
More than 600 people filled the gymnasium
at the Isfeld Secondary School in Courtenay,
British Columbia, to hear Council of
Canadians Chairperson Maude Barlow and
lawyer and author Leo McGrady speak about
peaceful direct action in Canada. The two-day
event was meant to encourage ordinary
citizens to fulfill their responsibility to get
up and act when governments fail to listen.
The coalition, which was formed by local
groups, including the Council’s Comox
Valley chapter, brought together people
who are interested in building more
awareness about the benefits of peaceful
direct action. The coalition used the
event to educate the public on its rights
and responsibilities during peaceful protests
and direct actions. Workshops gave
people tools, ideas and information to
organize their own actions.
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