Win! Major Victory Scored as Dump Site 41 Stopped For One Year On Tuesday, August 25 Simcoe County councillors heard the echoes of opposition and protest that have resonated across the country and voted 22-10 in favour of a one-year moratorium for the controversial landfill known as Dump Site 41. The decision will likely be followed by a future vote to scrap the project entirely and is acknowledged as a huge victory in our ongoing battle to protect water. Located in Tiny Township, part of Simcoe County in Ontario, the proposed landfill site sits atop the pristine Alliston Aquifer – an essential source of fresh water for farms, people, communities, and nature reserves that drains into Georgian Bay. Over the past several months, the Council of Canadians joined community members and First Nations who have been protesting the proposed site for more than two decades saying the landfill will cause irreparable harm to the aquifer, which some scientists have said holds the purest water in the world. Landfill opponents want the county to explore other options to manage waste by implementing waste reduction strategies, upgrading existing landfills, and recycling recyclable products lying in older landfills. Maude Barlow, National Chairperson of the Council of Canadians and Senior Advisor on Water to the President of the United Nations General Assembly, called for a one year moratorium on landfill construction to provide time for further data analysis and public input.

PHOTO: Maude Barlow, National Chairperson, and Meera Karunananthan, National Water Campaigner, wave goodbye to the equipment leaving Site 41.     Support our work – Donate now The Council of Canadians is a non-profit organization and does not accept money from corporations or governments. Our work is sustained by the generous donations of concerned Canadians who share our vision and commitment to action. Join Canada’s largest advocacy organization and people who believe that a better Canada – and a better world – is possible. Become a member or make a donation today. Sign up! Want to stay up to date on Council of Canadians’ news, activities and hard-hitting analysis? Enter your e-mail address »

Your support made a difference
Council of Canadians members, supporters and chapter activists contributed immensely to this campaign, giving support through donations, by writing thousands of letters and making phone calls in support of the county motion. Through these actions we were able to create the political pressure needed to halt landfill construction.

As quoted in the Globe and Mail this morning, Maude Barlow said, “Because this was such an intense fight being watched all over the country, I think you're going to see the same debate start happening everywhere. The shift is going to be from councillors searching for the least contentious place to put a dump to saying how can we have no more dump sites? How can we protect the water?”

We could not have achieved this important victory to protect water without the support of our members, activists and concerned citizens. Thank you to everyone who took action and helped make a difference.

For more information about how you can join the fight to stop Dump Site 41 and all the latest updates go here.

Here’s more about what’s new at the Council of Canadians:

• Win! North American Leaders Scrap the SPP
• Fighting for Climate Change Action in Regina
• Register Now for the Council of Canadians’ Annual General Meeting
• Join the Council of Canadians today!
  
  

Win! North American Leaders Scrap the SPP

The Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) has been deemed “no longer active” on a U.S. government website – a victory in the fight against the secretive trade pact that threatened to merge economic, regulatory, security, health, environmental and foreign policies across borders.

U.S. and Mexican presidents Barack Obama and Felipe Calderón met with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper in early August in Guadalajara, Mexico for a North American Leaders’ Summit. This summit was the fifth time leaders came together to talk about SPP initiatives since the agreement was formalized in 2005. The agreement was never debated or voted on in any of the three participating countries, and only the private sector has been solicited for input through a blue-chip North American Competitiveness Council (NACC).

While the outcome of the summit made it clear that the SPP in its current form will not continue, opportunities to address real North American issues were missed. Stuart Trew, the Council of Canadians’ trade campaigner, was at the summit and said leaders paid “lip service” to the Copenhagen climate talks while weakly committing to developing clean energy. He noted leaders boasted about the supposed success of trilateral pandemic preparedness initiatives, but avoided the ugly truth that H1N1 was a product of horrendous food safety loopholes in Mexico exploited by American meat processing companies.

The Council of Canadians is calling on U.S., Mexican and Canadian governments to keep their promise to consult publicly and widely on North American issues, and to take a hard look at NAFTA – the trilateral trade agreement upon which the SPP’s objectives were based – for its impact on quality of life, jobs, public services, energy policy and environmental protections in all three countries.

“Leaders cannot meaningfully talk about Mexican migration or refugee applications, let alone the current economic crisis, greenhouse gas reductions, or food safety problems without bumping straight into the reality that NAFTA has failed to produce real security or prosperity for the people of this continent,” said Trew in a recent media release. “North Americans deserve more than platitudes about fighting protectionism from their leaders. We badly need an open, societal dialogue on whether the ‘free trade’ model is in fact a barrier to job creation, environmental protection, and public health and safety.”

The next North American Leaders’ summit is expected to take place in Canada in 2010.

To read recent updates and analysis on the Guadalajara summit go here.

To download the Council’s new SPP report and handbill go here.

Fighting for Climate Change Action in Regina

When provincial premiers met recently in Regina, Saskatchewan, the Council of Canadians was there to push for real solutions to the country’s energy commitments and their global effect on climate change.

The three-day premiers meeting focused on important energy, climate and trade issues. Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach has been singled out for his unwavering support of the Alberta-based tar sands, Canada’s largest single source contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.

The Council of Canadians worked with groups from across the country at an event called the “Climate Showdown in Regina,” which included documentary screenings, rallies, creative actions and lobbying Premiers to take climate action. The Council joined Alberta-based advocacy groups Sierra Club, Public Interest Alberta and Greenpeace in publicly calling on Premier Stelmach to “play fair” in provincial talks with premiers on the subject of climate change in an ad published in the Regina Leader Post.

Despite promises to take climate action, Premiers and Prime Minister Stephen Harper continue to refer to Canada as an “energy super power.”

What does being an energy super power really mean? 
Being an “energy super power” means Canada’s lags in climate action leadership as demonstrated in our country’s poor record.  It means that environmental priorities are abandoned in favour of tar sands, uranium mining and nuclear power projects. And it means that Canadians lack secure access to energy resources because of trade commitments to fossil fuel exports.

“There are alternatives for Canada to commit to clean, green energy production,” said Andrea Harden-Donahue, energy campaigner for the Council of Canadians. “This includes maximizing regional self-sufficiency in environmentally-friendly, public energy production, reducing consumption, and improving energy efficiency by creating a Canadian Energy Strategy guided by the principles of energy security and ecological sustainability – not profit.”

To see the Council of Canadians’ joint “Play Fair” ad directed at Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach go here.

To read the latest updates on energy issues visit our new energy blog here.

Register Now for the Council of Canadians’ Annual General Meeting

A special invitation from Maude Barlow, National Chairperson, the Council of Canadians:

On behalf of the Saint John Chapter, and Board members Leticia Adair and Marion Moore, I am happy to invite you to our 24th Annual General Meeting in Saint John, New Brunswick October 23-25, 2009.

For years, Canadians have been told that freer trade, fewer regulations and bigger global markets will bring prosperity to everyone. But after more than 20 years of export-oriented trade, we know that’s not true. While big corporations and private investors have profited, people and the environment have paid a high price. The failed economic model that is based on consumerism and unsustainable growth no longer works. It’s time for positive change where we all buy locally, rely on renewable energy, and better recognize the need for publicly-owned and managed services and resources. Our AGM is an opportunity to learn more about these issues from our wonderful speakers and panelists and to share the knowledge of our members from across the country to develop strategies for the important work that lies ahead.

I hope to see you there!

Go here to register online now. Advanced registration closes on October 14, 2009.