Thirst for Justice challenges G8 agenda in Halifax
The Council of Canadians held a public forum and was part of an organizing committee for a march, rally, and information picket challenging the G8 agenda as Development Ministers from G8 countries gathered in Halifax for talks.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has put women's and children's health in the global south, including access to clean water, on the agenda at upcoming G8/G20 meetings Canada will host in Toronto in June. At a public forum last week called “Thirst for Justice,” Barbara Clow from the Atlantic Centre of Excellence for Women's Health, Carleen Pickard , Director of Organizing for the Council of Canadians, and Jada Voyager from the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation made the links between how the Canadian government is failing women, children and First Nation communities through policies that lead to the contamination of water resources, deny access to clean drinking water, and by failing to recognize water as a human right in Canada and internationally. To read our opinion editorial, published in the Halifax Chronicle Herald during the recent G8 ministerial meeting go here.
The Council of Canadians joined a coalition of groups and concerned individuals known as the “Halifax G8 Welcoming Committee” for a family-friendly rally last Sunday to speak out against the exclusive agenda of both the G8 and G20. Both have been criticized as clubs for rich nations, whose political leaders make decisions that affect less wealthy nations. The Council of Canadians believes the true forum for global decision-making should be the United Nations, also referred to as the G192. We will continue to confront the pressures of global capitalism and a failed model of world trade that has led to inaction on climate change, the loss of clean, accessible water and rising corporate power as Canada hosts the G8 and the G20 meetings June 25-27. To read more about the Halifax rally, which included chapter activists from across the Atlantic region, go here.
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Photo:The Council of Canadians joined a coalition of groups and concerned individuals known as the “Halifax G8 Welcoming Committee” for a family-friendly rally last Sunday to speak out against the exclusive agenda of both the G8 and G20.
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Shout Out for Global Justice! Get your tickets today
The Council of Canadians will be putting the issues of global trade and economic justice in the spotlight Friday, June 25 at a major public forum called “Shout Out for Global Justice!” The event will feature world-renowned speakers Maude Barlow, Leo Gerard, Amy Goodman, John Hillary, Naomi Klein, Dr. Vandana Shiva, Pablo Solon and Clayton Thomas-Mueller. The forum will be held at 7:00 p.m. (doors open at 6:00 pm.) in Toronto’s Convocation Hall, 31 King’s College Circle. Tickets are $20 for non-Council of Canadians members (which includes a one-year membership) and $14 for Council of Canadians members. Seating is limited, so get your tickets today by calling UofTtix Box Office at (416) 978-8849, or by visiting the website at uofttix.ca
For more information, call us at 1-800-387-7177 ext. 239 or visit our website here for all the latest updates.
Here’s more about what’s new at the Council of Canadians:
Put the brakes on CETA
 As Canadian and European trade negotiators finish a third round of closed door meetings, the Canadian government is still keeping us in the dark about what’s at stake in the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA) talks, which are aimed at getting a deal signed by 2011.
The newly formed Trade Justice Network, of which the Council of Canadians is a founding member, released leaked draft text of the proposed deal on April 19. The Trade Justice Network is raising serious concerns about the agreement’s potential impact on public and environmental policy, culture, farmers and public services in both Canada and Europe and demanding that the government cease talks until it commits to transparency in the negotiations. Go here to see a full list of our demands for this deal.
“The Harper government’s NAFTA-plus experiment with Europe is embarrassingly short-sighted in a world crying out for new answers to the social, economic and climate crises of our time,” said Stuart Trew, trade campaigner with the Council of Canadians. “Unfortunately, the text we’re releasing proves this deal is just another attempt to deregulate and privatize on both sides of the Atlantic.”
The CETA has been called the most significant bilateral trade negotiation since NAFTA and the first to involve the provinces in negotiations. Controversial provisions would open Canada’s telecommunications sector to full foreign ownership, stop municipal governments from implementing local or ethical procurement strategies, and removes measures designed to protect countries and consumers from the kinds of banking crashes we saw globally in 2008. The text also presents a direct attack on Ontario’s Green Energy Act, and it would virtually eliminate the rights of farmers to save, reuse and sell seed, providing biotech, pharmaceutical, pesticide, seed and grain companies powerful new tools to essentially decide who should farm and how.
To read the CETA text, visit the Trade Justice Network website here.
To see a video of the Trade Justice Network press conference launch go here.
Take action! We must put pressure on our municipal, regional and provincial elected representatives to reject any agreement with Europe that would curtail the right to keep important services, such as health care and water, in the public realm. So get the word out! Talk to your elected representatives and tell them to put the brakes on this deal before negotiations conclude in 2011.
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The Council of Canadians’ work often depends on being able to react quickly and effectively to issues – whether it’s mobilizing people to take action against the upcoming G8/G20 meetings, holding press conferences across the country to counter claims of “free” trade by provincial and federal governments, or bringing members and activists together for our annual meeting – our work is made possible by the generous support of our members and donors.
Playing an integral role in sustaining these efforts is the Canada Plan, the Council’s monthly giving program. Stable, monthly donations provide us with the ability to react to urgent events, plan for the day-to-day needs of our core campaigns and fight for strong policies in support of public health care, water, energy and fair trade.
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Historic Cochabamba Accord gives new vision for climate justice
 We must re-establish needed balance between humans and the environment. That was the message at an historic conference last week in Cochabamba, Bolivia that brought together social movements, organizations, indigenous peoples and governments for a dialogue on alternative proposals to the climate crisis.
More than 34,000 people gathered in Cochabamba to push the climate justice movement forward. On the last day, people filled a massive stadium, listening intently and then cheering loudly as the Cochabamba Accord (or people’s agreement) – agreed to by conference working groups representing people around the world – was read out loud. Concrete proposals such as establishing a Climate Justice Tribunal and a Universal Declaration on the Rights of Mother Earth, and agreeing on new commitments to be negotiated within the United Nations process are emerging from the conference.
The conference was organized after UN climate talks held in Copenhagen last December failed to reach an effective agreement to address the climate crisis. Canada was singled out during these talks for continued growth of the environmentally-destructive tar sands and a lack of commitment to needed emission reductions. While the Canadian government only had an observer present, the Council of Canadians was well represented in Cochabamba. We participated in the working group process, hosted discussions on the Canadian tar sands and the connections between water and climate justice, and National Chairperson Maude Barlow was featured – after being formally invited by the Bolivian government – as a main plenary panelist.
To read our recent op-ed “From Copenhagen to Cochabamba” featured in the Ottawa Citizen, see videos and photos from the Cochabamba conference, and to find out more about the Council’s campaign for climate justice go here.
Photo: Energy Campaigner Andrea Harden-Donahue, Maude Barlow and Director of Campaigns and Communications Brent Patterson in the stadium for the reading of the Cochabamba Accord.
Delta - Richmond chapter takes action for Earth Week
 The B.C.-based Delta-Richmond chapter of the Council of Canadians, along with the organization GatewaySucks, organized a successful action in support of climate justice as part of week-long activities for “Earth Action Week” earlier this month.
Chapter members occupied public land along the Fraser River that could be destroyed by the proposed South Fraser Perimeter Road, a four-lane freeway through sensitive habitat and farmland. Members unfurled a 37-metre long banner on the ground reading, "Climate Action Now.” The banner was visible from the Alex Fraser Bridge and could be seen by those participating in the pilgrimage to Burns Bog, another environmentally sensitive area that will be severely affected if the massive freeway is built. People also waved signs and banners along the street, planted trees, and received many honks and waves of support from passing motorists.
Win! Nova Scotia bans bottled water
Nova Scotia Premier Darrell Dexter made a surprise announcement at the CUPE-NS convention earlier this week, saying he would ban the purchase of bottled water in all provincial buildings. The details of the ban have not yet been released, but once implemented this will be the first provincial bottled water ban – and one that we hope will be repeated across the country.
“It’s really great to work in a province that is willing to take leadership on this issue,” said Angela Giles, Atlantic Regional Organizer for the Council of Canadians. “This is a first step towards committing to access to potable water, through fountains and investment in public municipal services, for all communities in Nova Scotia. We hope other provinces will see this as the way to go.”
The Council of Canadians is part of the “Turn on the Tap, Ditch the Bottle Coalition,” which works in Nova Scotia to promote restrictions on bottled water sales in cities and throughout the province. Council chapters have also been actively involved in lobbying municipalities, school boards and provincial governments through our Blue Communities Project to promote public water services, demand that water be recognized as a human right, and restrict the sale and purchase of bottled water in public facilities. The Blue Communities Project is a joint project with CUPE and several other organizations. Giles and Meera Karunananthan, the Council's national water campaigner, toured the Atlantic region with CUPE last year to encourage communities and local governments to become "Blue" by supporting public water goals.
To read our media release applauding the Nova Scotia bottled water ban go here.
To find out more about the Blue Communities Project and how you can get involved go here.
Cross-Canada annual regional chapter meetings wrap up
 Council chapters from across the country got together in their respective regions of BC-Yukon, the Prairies, Ontario-Quebec and the Atlantic recently to plan for the year ahead. The regional meetings provide an opportunity for chapter activists to review the past year's work at the local, regional and national levels, share stories and experiences, provide input on future campaign work, participate in workshops and have some fun. This year was no exception!
In addition to conversations about each of our campaign areas (water, energy, trade), there were also educational discussions about climate justice, the commons, direct action planning, the earthquake and post-earthquake aid issues in Haiti, transition towns, green jobs, “Organizing to Win!,” chapter survival and revitalization, re-caps of the prorogation rallies across Canada, social media, effective lobbying and accessing the media. The Council has more than 70 chapters across the country that put our campaign areas into action in communities.
One focus of the regional meetings was looking towards the upcoming G8/20 meetings in Toronto and the lead-up ministerial meetings across the country. Chapter activists brainstormed ideas for local activities that would link community concerns with the larger composition and decision-making problems with the G8/20. Many chapter activists are considering travelling to Toronto June 25-26 when thousands will gather for the Council’s “Shout Out for Global Justice” public forum, rally and march.
To contact a regional office or local chapter near you go here.
Photo: Atlantic chapter activists got together for a regional meeting last weekend.
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