Two weeks left in the 2008 Canadian federal election, and there is a greater need than ever to make sure the issues that matter to us have a greater impact than the images that are marketed to us.

The contributions of Council of Canadians staff and board members to the Rabble.ca election blog offer a diverse cross-section of the issues we need to raise even more loudly in this election and beyond, including NAFTA, health care, war resisters, the economics of energy and climate change, the economy, water, Indigenous opposition to the 2010 Olympics, funding cuts to the arts, the secretive Canada-EU trade deal, uranium mining, the SPP, and more.

To add your voice in the final stretch, get stocked up on election resources, including the Council’s 2008 Voter’s Guide, which you can download here at the Council of Canadians’ election site.

It’s people’s movements that have moved mountains, changed history, and created new possibilities no one thought possible. Right now, with simultaneous elections in Canada and the US, we have an unprecedented opportunity, though the outcome is far from certain.

For its part the Council of Canadians will be making sure this election proritizes people and the planet, not profits. Stay tuned for the launch of our special election site, and in the meantime the contributions of Council of Canadians staff and board members to the dynamic Rabble.ca election blog.

As we edge towards a federal election here in Canada, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has been trying to silently trade away our water. Silently, that is, until the story broke about the Environment Canada report the government has been suppressing since December 2007 on Canada’s freshwater crisis. Despite this, the Montreal Economic Institute is attempting to promote the commodification of water, in a report written by Marcel Boyer, who has ties to Industry Canada.

This past Wednesday, Canadian immigration officials ruled that Jeremy Hinzman, the first US war resister to seek refuge in Canada, has to leave the country by September 23 or be deported. Sending Jeremy, his wife Nga, and their two young children (their youngest, Meghan, was born in Canada on July 21) is nothing other than punishment for doing the right thing.

The Harper government is more intent on supporting the illegal Iraq war than supporting democracy right here in Canada. Harper would rather deport war resisters than listen to Canadians. Despite the fact that over 1 million Iraqi civilians have been killed. Despite the bravery of people like Jeremy who have decided not to participate in war crimes. Despite the fact that 64% of Canadians want the resisters to stay in Canada. Despite the fact that 82% of Canadians oppose the Iraq war. It’s time to let them stay. To make sure they do - join the national day of action on September 13 to stop the deportations.

With the abject failure of the Doha Round of world trade talks, the Canadian government has signaled its intent to focus on bilateral balkanization, or what they are calling an open-concept federation. As Prairie Regional Organizer Sheila Muxlow points out this week, provincial free trade agreements, known as TILMA are a monster to MASH. And as Maude Barlow highlights, the Doha collapse should be a wake-up call to the Canadian federal government to abandon the failed free trade model:

Changing strategy from multilateral bullying to bilateral bullying is not the solution to the failed model embodied by the Doha Round. It’s not in the interest of the Global South and it’s not in the interest of Canadians.

COUNCIL COVERAGE

Canada Needs to Abandon Failed Model of World Trade Talks, says Maude Barlow

“Barlow says the collapse of the Doha Round should be a wake up call for the federal and provincial governments to reverse course on undemocratic bilateral and inter-provincial deals such as TILMA (Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreements) and the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement.”

Right now the WTO is struggling to keep the Doha round alive – for extensive coverage of the ongoing negotiations, see below. Stuart Trew and I were quoted for the Council of Canadians in a variety of media, along with our allies (including the Canadian Peace Alliance, Amnesty International, the Canadian Arab Federation and the United Church, among many others) in calling for Omar Khadr’s return to Canada. Coverage of the Toronto and Ottawa protests is included below. The Council of Canadians action alert on saving Canada’s lakes from mining waste has already started to get picked up in various blogs.

COUNCIL COVERAGE

Privatization of Mexican Oil Will Advance SPP Objectives
“Stuart Trew of the Council of Canadians said that the North American Competitiveness Council is, “providing input into the SPP through the North American Energy Working Group, and their intentions are clear. In the case of energy, what they want is a fast-tracked continental integration policy.””
http://www.granitebaypt.com/detail/89466.html
http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2008/07/377807.shtml

Well, it’s been quite a week already for Council of Canadians media coverage. The Media map is expanding to start including coverage from the blogosphere as well.

COUNCIL COVERAGE

Water pact will deplete Great Lakes, expert fears
“Meera Karunananthan, water resources analyst for the Council of Canadians, fears that the agreement further erodes the responsibility of the federal government to safeguard Canadian water.”
http://www.thestar.com/News/Ontario/article/464750