Harper government abandoning public health care

Win! Obama denies Keystone XL pipeline permit

In the end, U.S. President Barack Obama heard the will of the people over the greed of corporate oil companies.

The Council of Canadians joined people in Canada and the United States celebrating President Obama’s decision to deny a permit for the Keystone XL pipeline, which was proposed to pump bitumen from Canada’s tar sands south to U.S.-based refineries. Many joined the fight against the pipeline, which would have had severe environmental impacts on ecologically sensitive watersheds, forests and Indigenous lands.

“The tar sands of Northern Alberta have become a symbol of the destructive side of globalization and a flashpoint in the debate about alternative futures,” wrote Council Chairperson Maude Barlow in an article on Huffington Post Canada about the Keystone XL decision. “With their heavy carbon footprint and their destruction of watersheds, the tar sands have become an international symbol of excessive development and the clear reason behind Canada’s abandonment of its Kyoto commitment.”

Shutting down the Keystone XL pipeline was just the beginning. The Council of Canadians is also joining with allied groups and environmental organizations, First Nations and others to halt the Northern Gateway pipeline, which is proposed to clear a destructive path from the Alberta-based tar sands, west through the Rockies to the coastline where bitumen would be shipped to Asian markets.

While the Harper government and the corporate-financed Ethical Oil lobby group have started a smear campaign against people and groups that are speaking out against the Northern Gateway pipeline, ordinary Canadians continue to come forward to have their say.

Barbara Barclay, a Council of Canadians member from Beaconsfield, Quebec, is one of thousands of Canadians to register concerns with the pipeline. For her, the pipeline represents a growing agenda of the Harper government to put our country and planet at risk for the sake of corporate oil profits. “I believe that we should be attempting to rein in our growth overall,” she wrote to an Edmonton-based newspaper recently. “We have all heard and read about global warming and how it has had terrible consequences already in Africa and Asia. We know what it is doing to destroy the habitat of our iconic polar bears. I believe we should all be trying hard to reduce consumption of most objects, particularly the use of oil, gasoline and plastics. Our future is threatened and we must try to be wise about the decisions we make. Growth is not necessarily good for us or for the world we live in. As a senior I am conscious about how much more simply we lived back in the 1940s and 1950s, and how much less we had in possessions yet we still lived productive and satisfying lives.”

Go here to read Maude Barlow’s comments about Keystone XL decision.

PHOTO: Maude Barlow spoke to crowds of people gathered in Washington, D.C. last June, bringing Canadian support for opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline.

CETA “all risk and no reward” for local communities

The federal government is poised to sign a deal with the European Union that puts local decision-making at risk.

Cities and towns across Canada have been asking questions and registering objections with procurement provisions in the proposed trade deal that will limit the ability of municipal governments to buy and hire locally. A growing number of municipalities, school boards and municipal associations want to see the municipal sector excluded entirely from the deal. In total, more than 30 cities, towns, school boards and municipal associations in eight provinces have passed resolutions against the Canada-European Union Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA).

This week Toronto city council in Ontario will be considering a motion to opt out of CETA. Council of Canadians activists, along with members of Toronto City Council and other trade justice activists, brought a giant wooden Trojan horse to the front of City Hall as a warning of the dangers CETA poses to local decision-making.

“We support the idea of keeping Toronto out of this unfair trade deal with the EU,” said Stuart Trew, Trade Campaigner with the Council of Canadians. “We're pro-trade, it's just that CETA isn’t really about trade at all. It’s another attempt by the Harper government to increase the power of corporations by limiting the kinds of public policies our local governments can set.”

Take action!

You can get involved by asking your municipality to pass a municipal resolution against CETA. For background information, tips and tools you can use to help make your case, go here.

A global battle for water justice in the homeland of water privatization

The Council of Canadians was in Barcelona, Spain earlier this month for a gathering of more than 90 activists involved in planning the alternative world water forum (Forum Alternatif Mondial de l’Eau or the FAME), which will take place in Marseilles, France on March 14 to 17. The FAME is a counter summit to the 6th World Water Forum – a corporate trade show held every three years to give corporations direct access to ministers, heads of state and high level government officials in order to influence water policy.

The FAME will include close to 45 workshops presented by activists and civil society groups around the world, and plenary sessions on the right to water, water and the green economy, women and water and the future of the water movement. The sessions will feature well-known speakers, including Council of Canadians Chairperson Maude Barlow, who will be part of the Council of Canadians and Blue Project Team attending both the FAME and the World Water Forum to challenge water privatization.

A key moment for water justice

This year’s alternative forum is expected to attract more than 2,000 civil society participants and will provide an excellent opportunity to come together as a movement and share strategies. The World Water Forum, which will be held in Marseilles March 12-17, is attended by ministers, heads of states, corporate executives, hundreds of journalists and thousands of others. The last forum had over 30,000 participants making it the largest water-related event in the world. The Marseilles forum is meant to be a launching pad for discussions surrounding water at the Rio +20 Earth Summit.

Go here to read more.

Want to take part? Key FAME sessions will be live-streamed on the internet. Go to www.fame2012.org for all the latest updates.

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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.