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.”
The Harper government has reintroduced implementation legislation for the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement in Bill C-2. As the number suggests, it is the second bill the government will handle after the budget, with second reading debate on the free trade agreement starting as early as this Friday. There is every reason to believe Harper will try to fast-track it through the House of Commons. Take action - send a letter today »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
December 7-18, 2009 marked a significant moment in time for global action on the climate crisis. Representatives from 200 countries met in Copenhagen, Denmark with the aim of getting agreement on common action to address the climate crisis.
The Council of Canadians was
on the ground in Copenhagen, providing updates on negotiations inside the conference and taking part in numerous events and climate justice movement activities happening outside.
Submission to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights for the Independent Expert on the issue of human rights obligations related to access to safe drinking water and sanitation. Read the report here »
Prepared for the National Network on Environments and Women’s Health with the involvement of: The Council of Canadians, Women and Health Care Reform, Prairie Women’s Health Centre of Excellence, March 2010
AUDIO: Women and Water in Canada
CBC Radio's The Current notes, "There was a report released on International Women's Day looking at an issue touching on the quality of life for women, particularly poor women. It's called Women & Water in Canada: The Significance of Privatization and Commercialization Trends for Women's Health and it was submitted to the United Nations' Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. One of the groups involved with the report was the Council of Canadians, and Meera Karunananthan is the water campaigner for the Council. We reached her at her office in Ottawa."
The Council of Canadians has launched a campaign calling on the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (OTPP) to stop investing in private, for-profit water services in Chile. Read more »
If you are a teacher, or a former teacher, please click here to sign the petition calling on the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan to divest from private water in Chile.
March 22 is World Water Day, and to mark this day Council of Canadians chapters and allies are organizing activities across the country to promote water as a public resource and a human right. See factsheets and actions in your communities here »
A documentary featuring Maude Barlow by filmmaker Liz Marshall. The film highlights Maude’s work to have water recognized as a human right at the United Nations, to stop the Site 41 landfill in Simcoe County, and to stop the destruction wrought by the tar sands in northern Alberta.
The film will be broadcast by TV Ontario on March 24, and then should be more widely available later this spring. www.wateronthetable.com
Meera Karunananthan, National Water Campaigner, and Angela Giles, Atlantic Regional Organizer for the Council of Canadians, scoop up the water in Sandy Pond, NL.
Meera and Mike Manning (CoC St. John's chapter contact) hike back from Sandy Pond, followed closely by a Vale Inco ATV.
A: When the Canadian Government says it should be a dump for mine waste.
Lakes across Canada are being destroyed by mining waste. Lakes that would normally be protected as fish habitat by the Fisheries Act are now being redefined as “tailings 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. Mining companies have the go-ahead to dump their tailings into perfectly healthy bodies of water, such as Sandy Pond in Newfoundland and Fish Lake in British Columbia. Twelve pristine water bodies are currently slated for destruction under this law.
Vancouver-based Taseko Mines Ltd is proposing to drain Teztan Biny (Fish Lake) in B.C. in order to stockpile solid waste and use Fish Creek and Little Fish Lake as tailings impoundment areas for a gold-copper mining project called Prosperity Mine. Read more about Teztan Biny here and find out what you can do to help save this lake.
Sandy Pond, near Long Harbour, N.L., is also on the hit list. The mine tailings that Vale Inco plans to dump into the lake will destroy the lake, causing irreversible damage.
Click here for Environment Canada’s list of 12 lakes proposed for destruction.
The Council of Canadians says the G20 is promoting a 'business as usual' agenda rather than what is needed, namely trade, climate and water justice. The Council will be on the ground in Toronto this June to challenge the G20.
The Council is also working with local, national and international groups, through such venues as the 2010 People’s Summit, to present legitimate alternatives to corporate globalization.
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 essay commissioned by The Council of Canadians.
Read an excerpt taken from the essay, the first in a 10-part series on Harper’s assault on democracy, here.
Part two of Murray Dobbin’s series is on the implications of the two prorogations of Parliament. It was published to coincide with the release of the federal budget and the reconvening of Parliament. The Council of Canadians will be releasing the results of a major poll by Environics on proportional representation shortly.
Murray Dobbin is a respected author and columnist and is the founder of Word Warriors, a project with The Council of Canadians that co-ordinates letter-writing to the editorial pages of newspapers across Canada.
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 Council of Canadians was 
Women and Water in Canada: The Significance of Privatization and Commercialization Trends for Women’s Health
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 essay commissioned by The Council of Canadians.
