ON THE ROAD
with Maude Barlow
This was the summer that
the Council of Canadians put
the Security and Prosperity
Partnership of North America
on the map. Thanks to the
hard work of the Council’s
staff, volunteers and chapter activists,
the SPP is now – finally – a household
word.
This didn’t come without years of
“tough slogging” by the Council and
our partners from other social justice
organizations in Canada, the U.S. and
Mexico. It was initially very frustrating
for us to have the media characterize
our concerns as a conspiracy theory
when we knew that deep integration
was happening at a rapid pace.
So we built the movement from the
ground up. First, we consulted with
groups that we knew would be affected
by deep integration, in 10 cities across
Canada. Then we launched an even
more extensive Citizens’ Inquiry on
Canada-U.S. Relations. In 2005, I
wrote Too Close for Comfort, and I
embarked on a 22-city speaking tour
to promote the book. That same year,
former Prime Minister Paul Martin
agreed to the SPP, setting the stage for
dozens of cross-border working groups
to integrate Canada’s health and safety,
environmental, defence and foreign
policies with the whims of the Bush
administration.
We knew it was only a matter of time
before the issue would catch fire. Then
suddenly, in the weeks leading up to
our Integrate This! teach-in this spring
and the Montebello leaders’ summit in
August, there was an explosion of interest
in the SPP. And the momentum only
continues to build every day.
It reminds me of our fights against the
Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) and the original Canada-U.S.
Free Trade Agreement. Both campaigns
started with just a handful of us trying
to tell the story, then they hit a critical
peak, and then there was no stopping
us.
It’s always been my contention that if
people knew about the SPP, they would
be appalled by its content. Now, thanks
to the thousands of people who rallied
in Montebello, in Ottawa and across
Canada during this August’s leaders’
summit, more and more people are concerned
about the SPP and are dedicated
to helping us fight it. To read an indepth
account of what went on inside
the Montebello summit, as well as a
view from the streets, check out page 9.
In addition to all of our work on the
SPP this summer, the Council of
Canadians was front and centre in
the fight to stop the privatization of
health care. We were on the ground
in Vancouver in August, at the annual
meeting of the Canadian Medical
Association, where “Dr Profit” – Brian
Day – took over the CMA’s reins. The
Council worked with doctors and
nurses from across the country to send
a clear message to the CMA that profit
is not the cure for Canada’s health care
system. See page 7 for a full report
about our interventions at the CMA
meeting.
Our international water campaign, the
Blue Planet Project, spent this summer
at the annual meeting of the Stockholm
Water Conference, challenging the
growing influence of big water corporations
and protesting against Nestlé’s
sponsorship of the World Water Forum.
And in September, the Council made
a submission to the Canadian Radio-
Television and Telecommunications
Commission on the take-over of
Alliance Atlantis Communications by
CanWest in collaboration with a subsidiary
of Goldman Sachs – a major U.S.
investment-banking firm – a move that
would jeopardize Canadian control of
Canada’s broadcasting system.
Our challenges do not let up as we
enter the fall and winter of 2007-08,
with a fabulous AGM coming up in
Kelowna from October 26 to 28,
where I will launch my new book, Blue
Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and
the Coming Battle for the Right to Water.
I will then begin a multi-city book tour,
where I will speak about ways we can
protect and preserve water in Canada
and around the world. I look forward to
seeing you all on this tour. Our members
and chapter activists continue to be
an inspiration to all of us at the Council
of Canadians.
Maude Barlow is the National
Chairperson of the Council of
Canadians.
Photo credit:
Christina Riley
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