In the past months, chapter activists, board members, and staff of the Council of Canadians have appeared on television, on the radio, and in newspapers across this country. Here is a brief sampling of the Council making the news.

Homeless not vote-less if city man has his way
As Canadians continue to ponder their choice in the June 28 election, a local resident has made it his mission to get the less fortunate thinking about polls and political parties. Roy Brady, a local activist, has been visiting local shelters, informing the management of shelter residents’ right to vote. He has provided each with an election kit from the Council of Canadians. "You have to give them the information," he adds. The kit lays out each party's stand on five issues – public health care, fair trade, clean water, safe food, and closer economic and military ties with the United States.
- Peterborough This Week; writer: Mike Lacey; Friday June 25, 2004

Hamilton at forefront of water debate, forum told
Eduardo Sousa of the Council of Canadians told a public forum that population growth, global warming, industrialization and agricultural uses are projected to leave one in four countries with chronic or systemic water shortages by 2050. "If access to water is declared a human right, it means that governments are responsible for ensuring that all their citizens have access to water on a not-for-profit basis," Mr. Sousa told the session, organized by Hamilton WaterWatch, a coalition fighting city plans to continue private operation of water and wastewater treatment. Mr. Sousa said Canada can safeguard the country's water by recognizing it as a human right, banning large-scale exports and exempting it from the North American Free Trade Agreement, which might otherwise give U.S. corporations rights of access.
- Dundas Star News, Hamilton News Mountain Edition, Ancaster News, Friday June 25, 2004

Biotech giant backs off on wheat
Activists concerned about the health and environmental effects of genetically modified food have protested vigorously against GM wheat, even sending slices of bread to the federal government last week as a symbol of their disapproval. They quickly claimed victory for consumer power yesterday, and predicted that the Monsanto move will be a turning point in the approval of new genetically modified foods in Canada. "A moratorium is just a matter of time," said a jubilant Nadège Adam, campaigner for the Council of Canadians. "It's an absolutely wonderful thing." She said she's convinced that Monsanto's deferral of its wheat efforts is in fact a graceful way for the company to abandon the wheat market altogether, since it does not want to admit defeat to a band of activists. "What brought this on was the resistance of consumers," she said.
- The Globe and Mail; Tuesday May 11, 2004; Reprinted with permission of The Globe and Mail

P3s get broader role in infrastructure
Now public-private partnerships build courthouses, schools, hospitals. . . But there is stiffening resistance from opposition politicians, some unions and the public. In an Ipsos-Reid poll in April, conducted for the Council of Canadians and Canadian Union of Public Employees, 75 per cent of respondents opposed using public-private joint ventures to rebuild "public infrastructure, such as hospitals, schools, highways and water systems." Nevertheless, Ontario's Liberal government, which criticized the concept while in opposition, is forging ahead with P3 hospital projects at the William Osler Health Centre in Brampton and Royal Ottawa Hospital, although it will retain more of an ownership stake on behalf of the public than had been planned by the previous Conservative government.
- The Globe and Mail; writer: Albert Warson; Tuesday May 25, 2004

Laura Sewell is the Media Officer for the Council of Canadians.

Printer-friendly version:
Download "Making the News" in PDF Format (63.3 KB)