The Council of Canadians is expressing its firm opposition to the federal government’s reopening of a rejected proposal for the Prosperity Mine in British Columbia, arguing the move violates the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the UN-recognized right to water. Read more »
ACTION ALERT: Protect Teztan Biny (Fish Lake) against Taseko’s ‘new’ mine proposal
NEWS: Taseko gets a Kent-chosen panel to review Fish Lake mine proposal
WIN! Ajax becomes a Blue Community, December 2011
WIN! Tiny, Ontario becomes a blue community
A municipality can become a Blue Community by: 1) recognizing water as a human right; 2) promoting publicly financed, owned and operated water and wastewater services; and 3) banning the sale of bottled water in public facilities and at municipal events. Burnaby has now adopted resolutions affirming these three criteria.
Through the Blue Communities Project we provide community leaders and activists the tools to resist public-private partnerships, promote water as human right at the local level, and ban the sale of bottled water in public spaces. More about the The Blue Communities Project »
Maude Barlow, national chairperson of the Council of Canadians, addressed the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) Annual General Assembly on July 14th, pledging her and The Council of Canadians' full support for First Nations struggles for access to clean water and sanitation, which Canada and the provinces are now required by international law to provide as a human right for all peoples.
"Almost one year ago to this day, the United Nations acknowledged that water and sanitation is a fundamental human right, equal to other rights that are enforceable under international law. Even though the Harper government shamefully abstained from the vote recognizing the right to water, it is nonetheless bound by an obligation to ensure the peoples of Canada enjoy that right," said Barlow in her speech to the AFN. Read media release here.
NEWS: Safe water right for all, First Nations told, The Canadian Press, July 14, 2011
Melancthon Quarry
An enormous open pit mine has been proposed in Melancthon township on Highway 124 just north of Shelburne. The Highland Companies (owned by a Boston hedge fund) has filed an application for a 2,300-acre aggregate mine – it would be the largest quarry in Ontario and the second largest in North America.
This is the “rooftop of Ontario” and the Niagara Escarpment runs along its border. The Council of Canadians has been working with local groups to help stop this open pit mine from being created because of the extraordinary impacts it will have on the community, the watersheds, Ontario’s food supply and on the drinking water of more than one million people who live in this area.
Read more and see actions concerning the Melancthon quarry here.
PHOTO: Council of Canadians Guelph chapter members Norah and Richard Chaloner, along with Norman Wolfson of NDACT, joined with Avaaz to deliver a massive national petition opposing the proposed mega-quarry to Minister of Natural Resources Linda Jeffrey at her constituency office in Brampton, July 11, 2011.
OUR RIGHT TO WATER: A People’s Guide to Implementing the United Nations’ Recognition of the Right to Water and Sanitation
As the first anniversary of the UN General Assembly's historic recognition of the human right to water and sanitation draws near, the Council of Canadians has released a new report by chairperson Maude Barlow, titled Our Right to Water: A People’s Guide to Implementing the United Nations’ Recognition of the Right to Water and Sanitation.
"Freshwater is central to our very existence and must be protected by public trust law for the common good, not for individual profit."
By Maude Barlow, National Chairperson, The Council of Canadians
Download the report here (1.35 MB) (français) (español)
Appendix: What Does the Right to Water and Sanitation Mean for Canada?
MEDIA RELEASE: Canada legally required to take action on human right to water: Report, Council of Canadians, June 20, 2011
NEWS: Advocacy group calls for legislation protecting water, Postmedia News, June 19, 2011
BLOG: Council of Canadians calls for legislation protecting water
An Environics Research poll commissioned by the Council of Canadians indicates that 73% of Canadians want the Harper government to recognize the human right to clean and safe water and sanitation. In 2010, the United Nations passed a historic resolution recognizing the human right to water and sanitation. The resolution passed overwhelmingly with 122 states voting in favour. 41 countries abstained, including Canada. Read more »
Join the growing movement to ban bottled water in public spaces
Across the country, concerned citizens are visiting their municipal councils and local school boards to say that bottled water is an unnecessary drain on the environment and on budgets. More »
Media highlights
[02-Feb-12] Expiring nuclear waste shipping licence gives feds a second chance to do it right, says Barlow
With Trade Deal, Will Canada Give EU 'Right to Profit' on Water? Maude Barlow and Paul Moist, The Tyee, February 2, 2012
Documents show CETA ill-advised, Stuart Trew, The StarPhoenix, February 2, 2012
Water Law: Public Trust May Be Fresh Approach to Protecting Great Lakes, Circle of Blue, January 17, 2012
Water scarcity reaches dangerous levels, Maude Barlow and Meera Karunananthan, The Durban Mercury, December 5, 2011
[1-Dec-11] World-Recognized Speakers on Fracking in NS for public event; conference
[22-Nov-11] Council of Canadians celebrates Abbotsford vote against water privatization
OP-ED: We must avert another environmental disaster in Falls, Maude Barlow & Wenonah Hauter, Buffalo News, November 13, 2011
[08-Nov-11] Council of Canadians condemns decision to restart Prosperity Mine approval process
[01-Nov-11] Council of Canadians celebrates Niagara-on-the-Lake resolution calling for a moratorium on fracking
[27-Oct-11] Statement on the Special Rapporteur on the Human Right to Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation's report on Financing by Council of Canadians and Food and Water Watch
[18-Oct-11] Council of Canadians supports New York's regulations on ballast waters to protect Great Lakes from invasive species
[11-Oct-11] Water Organizations and Advocates Ask International Joint Commission to Declare the Great Lakes a Public Trust While Continuing to Assess Persistent Threats
[29-Sep-11] UN rights council strengthens right to water resolution
[29-Sep-11] Council of Canadians to deliver more than 101,000 signatures to Dalton McGuinty urging him to stop nuclear waste on the Great Lakes
[13-Sep-11] Blue Community vote highlights need for water debate in Ontario election, says Council of Canadians
[12-Sep-11] Council of Canadians exposes Inverness plans to sell water to Petroworth for drilling
[06-Sep-11] Maude Barlow to visit Goldcorp mine in Guatemala
[02-Sep-11] The Council of Canadians welcomes environmental assessment of mega-quarry
[16-Aug-11] TransCanada admits Keystone Pipeline could be used for bulk water removals
[27-Jul-11] UN to commemorate 1st anniversary of historic human right to water resolution today
[26-Jul-11] Council of Canadians joins European allies in opposing nuclear waste shipments passing through UK and Scandinavian waters
[14-Jul-11] Maude Barlow addresses Assembly of First Nations convention, supports First Nations calls for internationally recognized human right to water
[07-Jul-11] Council of Canadians supports historic Watershed Declaration by Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug First Nation
[24-Jun-11] Victoria named Blue Community in historic vote
[20-Jun-11] Canada legally required to take action on human right to water: Report
NEWS: Advocacy group calls for legislation protecting water, Postmedia News, June 19, 2011
[13-Jun-11] Maude Barlow urges Swedish Minister of the Environment to stop radioactive waste shipment
[09-Jun-11] Council of Canadians rejects Taseko’s revised Prosperity Mine proposal
[16-May-11] Nuclear waste repository is a serious threat to the Great Lakes, warns Council of Canadians
[28-Apr-11] Assembly of First Nations, Amnesty International and Council of Canadians urge political leaders to recognize the human right to water
[26-Apr-11] European civil society demand governments stop Bruce Power’s shipment of radioactive waste
[23-Apr-11] Marching for the land and the water
[15-Apr-11] Council of Canadians meets with key European groups to deepen opposition against Bruce Power's radioactive waste shipment
[22-Mar-11] City of Burnaby named first Blue Community in Canada
[22-Mar-11] Protect the Great Lakes as a Commons, says Council of Canadians
[21-Mar-11] Canada's first Blue Community to be announced on World Water Day
[21-Mar-11] Council of Canadians launches campaign "Show Us the Deal" to educate public and politicians about "secret" Véolia waste/water deal
[21-Mar-11] New poll indicates most Canadians want Harper to recognize the right to water and make water a budget priority
[17-Mar-11] Harper budget should spend $7 billion on water, says Council of Canadians
[01-Mar-11] Council of Canadians raises concerns about Senate bill on First Nations water safety
[24-Feb-11] Vale setback: Sandy Pond Alliance lawsuit ruling places severe restrictions on intervener status
[05-Feb-11] Council of Canadians condemns CNSC approval of radioactive shipments through Great Lakes
[01-Feb-11] Coca-Cola director to head OTPP-owned Chilean water utility
[27-Jan-11] Council celebrates Botswana’s ruling upholding Bushmen’s right to water
Maude Barlow won't go with the flow: Water-rights activist defends documentary against industry lawsuit, Ottawa Citizen, November 25, 2010
MEDIA: Council of Canadians celebrates federal government decision on Fish Lake, November 2, 2010
HEADLINE NEWS: Vale targets pristine lake for tailings, Linda Diebel, Toronto Star, September 10, 2010
Publications
More publications here »
Fact Sheet: We Must Take Action to Protect the Great Lakes Forever, October 2011
Fact Sheet: Radioactive Shipment Will Put Great Lakes at Risk, October 2011
Creating a New Narrative for the Great Lakes Radioactive shipments planned for Lakes, Canadian Perspectives, Summer 2011
Moving from Recognition to Realization: Botswana court upholds Kalahari Bushmen’s right to water, Canadian Perspectives, Summer 2011
No Fracking Way: Our water, health and air at risk, Canadian Perspectives, Summer 2011
OUR RIGHT TO WATER: A People’s Guide to Implementing the United Nations’ Recognition of the Right to Water and Sanitation
By Maude Barlow, June 2011
The report finds that Canada is legally bound to respect the UN vote, and therefore to address the pressing issue of access to water and sanitation in First Nations communities. (1.35 MB) (français) (español)
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Leaky Exports: A portrait of the virtual water trade in Canada
By Nabeela Rahman, Maude Barlow, Meera Karunananthan, May 2011
A report which highlights the daily loss of massive amounts of the country’s fresh water used to produce commodities, minerals and energy for export. Virtual, or embedded, water is the sum of water used in the production of a good or service. Virtual water trade refers to the embedded water transferred across borders when these goods and services are internationally traded.
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Our Great Lakes Commons: A People's Plan to Protect the Great Lakes Forever
By Maude Barlow, March 2011
This paper is intended to serve as a background, a call to understanding and a call to action on an exciting 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. (6.46 MB) |
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Council of Canadians' submission to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency on the Marathon Platinum Group Metals and Copper Mine Project, May 24, 2011
Council of Canadians chapter on water spending priorities, The Alternative Federal Budget by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, March 15, 2011
Dry Run, Patrick Langston, Carleton university Magazine, Winter 2011
Fact sheet: No Fracking Way! Hydraulic fracturing poses serious risks to water and health, January 2011
What's to be Done? Solutions for 2011 from Six Notable Canadians
Maude Barlow, National chairperson, Council of Canadians,
X-Ray Magazine, January 2011
Canada is awash in water. Why, then, do many Canadians - notably Aboriginal communities - have trouble accessing clean, safe water? Water scarcity is increasing around the world, and it’s said that wars of the future will be fought over water.
Read more »
Bulk Water Export Bill Has Leaks, Canadian Perspectives, Autumn 2010
Council Joins Community Struggles to Protect Canadian Lakes and Rivers from Becoming Mining Companies’ Private Dumps, Canadian Perspectives, Autumn 2010
Right to Water Resolution a Resounding Victory for Water Justice, Canadian Perspectives, Autumn 2010
Fact sheet: Private water and CETA (bilingual) September 2010
~ Read the new Making Waves quarterly e-newsletter
~ Read blogs from the World Water Forum, March 2009
Canadian Perspectives
- Canadian Perspectives, our in-depth membership magazine, reports on the work of the Council and explores the important political developments affecting Canadians and the world around us. Articles written by a wide range of leading thinkers make Canadian Perspectives a valuable activist resource.
Multimedia
AUDIO: Privatizing Water: Stuart Trew, Trade campaigner for The Council of Canadians. Part One of The Current, CBC, January 27, 2012
AUDIO: Mark Calzavara and The Council of Canadians welcomes the announcement by Ontario’s Minister of the Environment John Wilkinson that a proposed mega-quarry in Melancthon Township will be subject to an Environmental Assessment. Zoomer Radio, September 2, 2011
AUDIO: Plan to bury radioactive waste meets opposition, Interview with Emma Lui, National Water Campaigner, Council of Canadians, Bayshore Broadcasting News, June 24, 2011
Maude Barlow, keynote speaker, 2011 Conference Saving the Great Lakes Forever, Michigan, May 6-7, 2011
Wenonah Hauter - Saving The Great Lakes Forever
Conference, Michigan, May 6-7, 2011
Roundtable Discussion - Saving The Great Lakes Forever
Conference, Michigan, May 6-7, 2011
AUDIO: More Generator Opposition, Emma Lui, National Water Campaigner, voices opposition to Bruce Power's steam generator plan, Bayshore News, March 21, 2011
AUDIO: The Council of Canadians voices concerns over the safe drinking water for First Nations Act (Bill S-11), Bamoseda Report, March 5, 2011 [9:35]
A documentary featuring Maude Barlow by filmmaker Liz Marshall. The film highlights Maude’s work to have water recognized as a human right at the United Nations, to stop the Site 41 landfill in Simcoe County, and to stop the destruction wrought by the tar sands in northern Alberta. Read more »
'Best Canadian Feature Film Award' was presented to Liz Marshall for Water on the Table at the 2010 Planet in Focus International Environmental Film & Video Festival.
UPDATE: Maude Barlow challenges Aquafed on CNN, January 2010
September 21, 2008: Launch of the European Public Water Network.
Video from the launch at the European Social Forum in Malmo, Sweden in a very enthisiastic event with over 15 countries voicing support; featuring Anil Naidoo, Project Organizer, Blue Planet Project.
Blue Gold : World Water Wars
In every corner of the globe, we are polluting, diverting, pumping, and wasting our limited supply of fresh water at an expediential level as population and technology grows. The rampant overdevelopment of agriculture, housing and industry increase the demands for fresh water well beyond the finite supply, resulting in the desertification of the earth.
As Maude Barlow proclaims, "This is our revolution, this is our war".
F.L.O.W - For Love of Water
Irena Salina's award-winning documentary investigation into what experts label the most important political and environmental issue of the 21st Century - The World Water Crisis.
Interviews with scientists and activists intelligently reveal the rapidly building crisis, at both the global and human scale, and the film introduces many of the governmental and corporate culprits behind the water grab, while begging the question 'CAN ANYONE REALLY OWN WATER?'
TRAILER: Waterlife - Opened in Toronto June 2009
Writing on Water is a six part video on the Pan Asian Water Colloquium held in Chennai, September 25 to 30th 2008. (Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
VIDEO: Maude Barlow, leading protesters at the World Water Forum in Istanbul, says access to water is a fundamental human right.
AUDIO: Maude Barlow on CBC's The Current, March 20, 2009
Recent action alerts
ACTION ALERT: Help defend Wolf Lake
ACTION ALERT: Don't FRACK with our water » Petition
ACTION ALERT: Tell Niagara-on-the-Lake Council to protect the Great Lakes from fracking!
ACTION ALERT: Save our Great Lakes forever petition
PETITION: Protect the Great Lakes Environment Like a National Park
ACTION ALERT: Talk to Albertans, not multinational water executives, about the future of Alberta's water!
ACTION ALERT: Ask McGuinty for a reprieve from the Mega Quarry
ACTION ALERT: No Means No! Put an End to the Prosperity Mine Proposal
ACTION ALERT: Scrap S-11, and address drinking water in First Nations communities
ACTION ALERT: AbitibiBowater sellout proves water is not safe from NAFTA!
ACTION ALERT: Stop Nestlé Canada’s request for a 10-year water permit in Guelph!
ACTION ALERT: Demand that Ontario refuse permission for radioactive shipments on the Great Lakes
ACTION ALERT: Tell London City Council You Want to Keep Bottled Water Banned!
ACTION ALERT: Stop the introduction of a water market in the BC Water Act!
ACTION ALERT: Say no to the corporatization of Ontario's water services!
ACTION ALERT: Tell the provincial government to save Kanata's Beaver Pond!
ACTION ALERT: Say no to shipping radioactive waste through the Great Lakes!
ACTION ALERT: Save Newfoundland's Sandy Pond
PUBLIC WATER IS A HUMAN RIGHT
Council protested outside the World Water Congress in Montreal
PHOTO: The Council of Canadians unfurled a 9-foot by 26-foot blue banner to represent 100 million people worldwide who lack access to clean drinking water.
BLOG UPDATE: The Council begins its protest at the World Water Congress
NEWS: Global water conference in Canada to be used for anti-privatization protest, The Canadians Press, September 20, 2010
The Council of Canadians, the Montreal Chapter of the Council of Canadians and representatives of Quebec-based allies met outside the World Water Congress meeting on September 20 to protest their 'water for profit' agenda. The World Water Congress meeting was sponsored by Suez Environnement, Veolia Water, the Oil Sands Developers Group, and Environment Canada and focused on how to profit from water scarcity and private water services.
MEDIA ADVISORY: Council of Canadians to protest World Water Congress in Montreal, September 16, 2010
Water is vital to people’s health and livelihoods. In Canada, there is no national strategy to address urgent water issues and no federal leadership to conserve and protect our water. The Federal Water Policy is over 20 years old and badly outdated. Our freshwater faces crises including contamination, shortages and pressure to export water to the United States through pipelines and diversions.
Poll indicates most Canadians want Harper to recognize the right to water and make water a budget priority
