Citizens to take it back in Kelowna!
The Council of Canadians will be in beautiful Kelowna, BC from October 26-28 for our 22nd Annual General Meeting. We hope you can join us for a free public forum, followed by a weekend of workshops and panel discussions, focusing on a peoples’ vision of North America. This year’s theme is “Take it Back!” and will feature speakers and activists from Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. We’ll be looking at ways to take back what is ours – our democratic right to participate in discussions about Canada’s future within North America. This event is open to everyone. You don’t have to be a Council member to attend.
Register online today before 4:00 p.m. EDT, on-site at the AGM, or call us at 1-800-387-7177.
Meanwhile, here’s what’s new at the Council of Canadians:
Victory! BC Municipalities reject TILMA
The Council of Canadians applauds the Union of British Columbia Municipalities for taking a strong stand against the Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement. In a landmark vote at their annual meeting in September, municipal representatives passed a motion calling on the BC government to significantly alter the deal to address the concerns of municipalities – or exempt them from TILMA completely. If Premier Campbell refuses to do either, then the municipalities committed to lobbying the government to scrap the deal.
"This is a severe blow to TILMA by municipalities,” said Carleen Pickard, B.C. regional organizer for the Council of Canadians, who attended the UBCM convention. “This is what citizens, environmental, labour and social justice organizations have been hoping for.”
Councillors expressed almost unanimous support for the motion against TILMA during the discussion preceding the vote. TILMA, which was signed into law without public debate or legislative oversight last April, is a legally binding agreement between B.C. and Alberta that gives businesses and individuals the right to sue either province when they feel that any regulation and local government policy “restricts or impairs” investment.
“The UBCM’s vote, along with the rejection of TILMA by Saskatchewan and Manitoba, will weaken the case for TILMA in Ontario and Québec, where provincial governments are considering this deal,” said Pickard.
The vote represents a huge victory in the Council of Canadians’ fight against TILMA. And it wouldn’t have happened without the hard work done by chapter activists, who contacted their local mayors and councillors, wrote letters to the editor, and organized many public events over the last few months.
Click here to learn more about what you can do to help stop TILMA in its tracks.
Bow River up for sale?
Water in the Bow River in southern Alberta could soon be up for sale. The Eastern Irrigation District (EID) recently applied to Alberta Environment to amend their current water licence to allow them to extract water from the Bow River for commercial purposes. The EID is already the holder of the largest water licence in the region, amounting to 30 per cent of the average annual flow of the Bow River.
This is a very important decision for the future of water management across southern Alberta. If approved, this amendment would give the EID the power to re-allocate and sell water for other uses, including municipal, non-irrigational and non-agricultural activities.
If this amendment goes through, it would set a dangerous precedent – triggering a string of similar applications from other agri-business consortiums – effectively putting most of Alberta’s water up for sale.
Susan Howatt, the Council of Canadians’ national water campaigner, submitted a letter of concern to the Alberta government, outlining our objection to EID’s plans. Visit our website to read her letter and to find out what you can do to help stop bulk water exports and promote a National Water Policy.
Celebrate Blue October
Today, one in six people lack access to safe, affordable water, and two in five lack access to adequate sanitation. The United Nations expects these numbers to rise – unless we act now. Amid this crisis, some of the world’s wealthiest corporations – such as Suez and Coca-Cola – are looking to profit, often at the expense of the poor. A vibrant international movement is challenging the corporate control of this precious resource, and protecting water as a public good and an inalienable right.
Blue October is an international month of action to challenge corporate control of water and to protect water as a shared natural resource available to all. On October 31, 2004, the people of Uruguay voted to amend their constitution to guarantee that piped water and sanitation are available to all Uruguayans, banning for-profit corporations from supplying this public good. Blue October celebrates this historic move by challenging corporate control of water through global action!
The Council of Canadians’ Blue Planet Project is one of the key organizers of this month of action. Visit the Blue October website, for more information on this international initiative.
SPP shuts out peace activists
 The federal government needs to revisit its border security arrangements with the United States in light of two peace activists being denied entry to Canada this week based on FBI records, says the Council of Canadians.
On Wednesday, October 3, Medea Benjamin, founder of the anti-war women’s group CODEPINK, and retired Army colonel Ann Wright were denied entry into Canada at the Buffalo-Niagara Falls Bridge. They were told that they could not cross the border into Canada because their names appeared on an FBI database that Canadian border agents rely on to screen visitors.
“The barred entry to Canada of two U.S. peace activists is proof that the so-called Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) between the two countries has its priorities backward,” says Maude Barlow, national chairperson of the Council of Canadians.
Visit our website to read an article by Ann Wright from the forthcoming issue of Canadian Perspectives, where she describes her treatment at the Canadian border. And don’t forget to visit CODEPINK’s website to sign a petition telling our government to stop blacklisting U.S. peace activists.
NACC says more power, please
On August 21, 2007, behind closed doors at the Chateau Montebello in Quebec, the North American Competitiveness Council tabled its first ever report to the leaders of the Security and Prosperity Partnership.
The 30 CEOs of the NACC are apparently worried that the SPP is running out of steam due to a lack political will at the top. At the same time, they are asking for even more power to guide the relationship between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico down a corporate-friendly path that has seen no public debate. In light of these developments, and the new policy outcomes of the Montebello Summit, it is crucial that we continue to demand that the NACC be disbanded and all Security and Prosperity Partnership talks ceased until the agreement can be brought to the Canadian public for a full and open debate.
Visit www.canadians.org to download a PDF of Council researcher Stuart Trew’s analysis of the NACC’s Report to Leaders.
ACTION ALERT: Put the SPP to a vote!
Maude Barlow, David Suzuki, Ken Georgetti, Maher Arar and Monia Mazigh have just sent Prime Minister Stephen Harper a letter demanding that he submit the controversial Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP) to a vote in the next parliamentary session.
They are calling on Stephen Harper to make good on his earlier promise "to submit significant international treaties for votes in Parliament" by bringing forward the SPP for parliamentary debate and a vote in the House of Commons.
Take action now! Visit our website to send your own letter to Prime Minister Harper, demanding that the SPP be put to a vote.
Join the Council of Canadians today!
Founded in 1985 by a handful of citizens including Farley Mowat, Pierre Berton and Margaret Atwood, the Council of Canadians is Canada’s pre-eminent public watchdog organization. The Council receives no money from government, corporations or any political party. To preserve our complete independence, we ensure that almost all our revenue comes from generous individuals like you. Join the Council today, and help us prove that a better Canada is possible.
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