Council crosses country with CUPE conveying CETA concerns

The Council of Canadians is on a cross-Canada tour with the Canadian Union of Public Employees educating and raising awareness about how a proposed trade deal with the European Union will be bad for communities.

If signed, the Canada-European Union Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) would go far beyond current trade deals such as NAFTA to include provincial and local governments, limiting their ability to prioritize buying and hiring locally. The deal would threaten buy-local initiatives and food security, lead to skyrocketing prescription drug costs and encourage the privatization of everything from water services to health care.

To date, negotiations have been taking place behind closed doors without public input or a vote by Parliament.

We need to stop this deal!
For more information about CETA and what you can do in your community to raise awareness and take action, as well as tour stop dates, go here. Upcoming tour stops include Winnipeg, Halifax and St. John’s.

New report speaks to urgent need for improved future for Great Lakes water

Our Great Lakes Commons: A People’s Plan to Protect the Great Lakes Forever is an in-depth report about the critical importance of forging a new future for the Great Lakes watershed, which provides life and livelihood to more than 40 million people in Canada and the United States, as well as thousands of species that live around it.

Written by Maude Barlow, the paper is intended to serve as a background and a call to understanding and action on a new proposal to designate the Great Lakes and its tributary waters as a lived Commons, to be shared, protected, carefully managed and enjoyed by all who live around them.

Decades of mismanagement and heavy industrial overuse have left the Great Lakes suffering from a multitude of threats, including rapidly falling water levels from over-extraction and climate change, devastating levels of pollution, risky shipments of radioactive materials, increasing loss of wetland, massive water takings from bottled water corporations, bulk water diversions and more. As the essential source of drinking water for more than 40 million people on both sides of the border, we must fundamentally change the way the Great Lakes are viewed, managed and protected.

Sign onto the “Great Lakes Forever” petition – add your voice today to the growing number of people across Canada and around the world who are calling for a different, and better, future for the Great Lakes.

Click here to tell Prime Minister Harper that the Great Lakes must be recognized as part of the Commons, a Public Trust and a Protected Bioregion so we can ensure their health and protection today and for the benefit of generations to come.

Council welcomes “rogue Page” Brigette DePape

Council of Canadians’ staff and board members were able to give a heartfelt standing ovation to Brigette DePape, the young Parliamentary Page who held up a flaming red “Stop Harper” sign during the recent reading of the Harper government’s Throne Speech.

DePape visited our national office to talk about her decision to quietly, but very publicly protest and speak out against the Harper government. She spoke about how one person can take action in a way that can capture the minds and spirits of thousands of Canadians. She hopes that others will now be inspired to do something.

“Harper’s agenda is disastrous for this country and for my generation. We have to stop him from wasting billions on fighter jets, military bases, and corporate tax cuts while cutting social programs and destroying the climate. Most people in this country know what we need are green jobs, better medicare, and a healthy environment for future generations,” she said.

While DePape was fired for speaking out – a consequence she has accepted – she says she is still proud of what she did. The Council of Canadians applauds her courageous action.

To read more, go here.

Marking the one year anniversary of assault on fundamental freedoms during 2010 G20 meeting

June 25, 2011 will mark the one-year anniversary of the G20 Summit in downtown Toronto, which saw the largest number of mass arrests in Canadian peace time history, and unprecedented infringements of individual civil liberties and fundamental freedoms.

In the two day span of mostly peaceful protests more than 25,000 Canadians – families, workers, activists and concerned citizens young and old – took to the streets to speak out against the billion dollar meeting of the world’s richest and most powerful leaders which was taking place behind closed doors. The Council of Canadians was there in Toronto one year ago, marching on the streets and bringing thousands of voices together on the eve of the summit for a “Shout Out for Global Justice!” event at Toronto’s Massey Hall.

Now, the Council of Canadians is joining with the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA), the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL), and the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) to highlight that one year later, details of monetary waste, improper government spending and questions about illegal arrests continue to emerge. The groups will host a large “Fundamental Freedoms Festival” at Queen's Park on Saturday, June 25, 2011.

"The suspension of civil rights is unconscionable in a democracy. It is shameful that one year later, we are still without a full public inquiry into the G20 security measures or the assurance that they would never be implemented again," said CFS Chairperson Dave Molenhuis.

To read more go here.

Proposed Melancthon quarry puts water supply at risk

A proposed open pit limestone quarry has rallied widespread opposition from people who say it poses too much risk to the environment and to local watersheds.

The Highland Companies, backed by a Boston-based multi-billion dollar hedge fund, the Baupost Group, is proposing a massive 2,316-acre open pit limestone mega-quarry in Melancthon Township, 100 kilometres north of Toronto. The edge of the quarry would border the Niagara Escarpment, a UNESCO Biosphere reserve.

The quarry would destroy productive farmland, pollute the air with the thousands of 40-tonne trucks needed for it every day, and threaten the area’s water. The Amabel-Lockport-Guelph aquifer lies beneath the quarry and forms the headwaters of five major river systems – the Pine, the Grand, the Nottawasaga, the Saugeen and the Beaver – that are important drinking water sources for more than a million people. The quarry would blast 60 metres (deeper than Niagara Falls) beneath the water table and use approximately 600 million litres of water per day.

Community groups are calling for a provincial environmental assessment of the proposed project by registering their Environmental Bill of Rights requests with the Ontario Ministry of the Environment before July 11.

To read more about the Melancthon quarry and how the Council of Canadians has joined in the local fight against it, go here.

Photo: Mark Calzavara(R), Ontario, Quebec and Nunavut Regional Organizer, joined local residents, farmers and First Nations representatives in April for a five-day march to oppose the quarry project.

Arctic Coastal States told to “Leave it in the Ground”

The Council of Canadians and the Indigenous Environmental Network brought water, spilling oil drums and even an iceberg to the lawn outside the Department of Foreign Affairs in Ottawa as a dramatic visual challenge to offshore drilling in the Arctic.

The visual protest, along with a letter sent in the lead up to the 7th Arctic Council meeting in Nuuk, Greenland, all conveyed the message that Canada needs a moratorium on offshore drilling in the Arctic.

With the Arctic increasingly being seen as a final frontier for fossil fuel development, the open letter affirms international unity around concerns with, and opposition to the pursuit of offshore drilling. The letter, which was signed by organizations in six Arctic Coastal states – including Canada, U.S., Russia, Greenland, Denmark and Norway – encourages the Arctic Council to advise against offshore drilling and engage in a discussion exploring alternative, viable opportunities for sustainable economic development. It highlights the unacceptable risks of offshore drilling in Arctic waters and the need for political leaders to start choosing to leave fossil fuels “in the ground” in the face of a climate crisis.

Go here to read the letter.

Go here to see images and watch videos of the Arctic action at the Department of Foreign Affairs in Ottawa.

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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. By becoming a member of the Council of Canadians your generous support helps give our organization a voice on social, economic and political issues and build a strong, independent and diverse Canada. Join the Council today, and help us prove that a better Canada is possible. Already a member? Share this newsletter with a friend and encourage them to join or donate and become a part of Canada’s largest citizens’ advocacy organization.