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In the News

Over the last few months, the Council of Canadians has received a great deal of media attention for activities such as our Integrate This! teach-in, a speaking tour to promote public health care and the campaign against TILMA. Here’s a sample of our recent press coverage.

Deal could hamstring towns: Group warns of the municipal liabilities in pact

The Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement, an inter-provincial trade agreement between B.C. and Alberta, “means any investor could launch a suit if they feel like there’s a barrier to setting up shop and making a profit,” said Carleen Pickard [B.C. Regional Organizer for the Council of Canadians].

If a company or individual feels trade barriers are present, they have the right to sue municipal governments, through the trade agreement, said Pickard.

TILMA, which comes into effect on April 1, was not put through any public hearings or legislative reviews, said Pickard, whose group has been lobbying the government since they heard of TILMA six months ago.

– Harbour City Star, February 17, 2007

Side deals undercut social scene, conference told

The Harper government must halt “under the table” trade and security deals with the United States and Mexico because they threaten to erode Canada’s social standards, an Ottawa conference was told yesterday.

“We’ve launched a national movement this weekend,” said Council of Canadians national chairperson Maude Barlow, following the Integrate This conference against Canada’s involve ment in the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) – the so-called “Three Amigos” agreement.

– Ottawa Citizen, April 2, 2007 (also appeared in the Montreal Gazette and the Vancouver Sun)

Public health care has busines edge: advocates

Canada’s public health care system is a boon for bolstering the country’s business advantage, advocates said yesterday.

Even the higher taxes in Canada don’t quash the benefits of having public health care, which cuts costs for employers, said Guy Caron, health campaigner for the Council of Canadians.

He said it’s an argument that runs up against the common notion that privatization of health care is the only cure for an ‘ailing’ system.

“We want to open a dialogue with Canadian businesses on the need for them to not only protect but to enhance Canadian medicare not only for the good of all Canadians but also for their own competitive advantage compared to the U.S.,” he said.

– Red Deer Express, April 18, 2007

Closed-door talks focusing on our water supply

I have been conveniently called anti- American for sounding the alarm over what is clearly the corporate takeover of a precious public resource. It is not only that Canada would suffer from water scarcity through these ill-conceived projects. It is that the planet would suffer from such massive transfers of water.

Displacing water from one place to another spreads desertification. In this age of global warming, we need to address drought through sustainable conservation strategies administered by the public sector.

– The Calgary Herald, April 26, 2007 (Opinion piece by Maude Barlow)

Lou Dobbs Tonight

In Ottawa, author and activist Maude Barlow has unrestrained contempt for the Security and Prosperity Partnership. She’s concerned about a grab for Canada’s natural resources and a watering down of its regulations and benefits by the biggest corporations doing business in North America. And that’s just for starters …

Her group, the Council of Canadians, has published a citizens guide called “Integrate This,” denouncing the deep integration agenda between the United States, Mexico and Canada … But Barlow recently testified before a parliamentary trade committee that the SPP “... is quite literally about eliminating Canada’s ability to determine independent regulatory standards, environmental protections, energy security, foreign, military, immigration and other policies.”

– Broadcast on CNN, May 7, 2007

Meera Karunananthan is the Media Officer for the Council of Canadians.

Photo: Diana Gibson from the Parkland Institute joined Maude Barlow and others to launch the Integrate This! teach-in at a press conference on March 30. Credit: John Urquhart

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updated July 19, 2007