OTTAWA – Today, on Paul Martin’s first day in office, the Council of Canadians is challenging the new Prime Minister to tell Canadians where he stands on the issues that matter.

“Canadians hold certain core values close to our hearts: public health care, fair trade, safe food, and clean water. We need – and have the right – to know that our voices will be represented and carried forward into action by this new government,” says Maude Barlow, National Chairperson of the Council of Canadians.

The Council of Canadians is asking Paul Martin and his ministers to answer five key questions:

1. Will you and Trade Minister Jim Peterson commit to a Canada-wide referendum prior to signing the final text of the Free Trade Area of the Americas agreement?
   (A poll conducted by the Canadian Labour Congress in 2002 indicated that 74% of Canadians favour a referendum before Canada signs on to the FTAA.)
2. Will you and Health Minister Pierre Pettigrew introduce - within your first 100 days in office - legislation to implement the mandatory labeling of genetically modified food?
   (A poll conducted by Decima in 2003 found that 91% of Canadians want labels listing GMO content and that 88% think such labels should be made mandatory.)
3. Will you and Health Minister Pierre Pettigrew take action to implement all the recommendations of the Romanow Report on the Future of Health Care in Canada, including the rejection of for-profit private health care?
   (A poll conducted by Ekos Research in 2002 found that 74% of Canadians wanted the Romanow Report's recommendations to be implemented within the first 100 days of its release.)
4. Will you and Environment Minister David Anderson create a National Water policy which declares that water is a human right, not a commodity, and bans the sale of Canada's water?
   (A poll conducted by the Centre for Research and Information Canada in 2002 indicated that 65% of Canadians were opposed to exporting Canada's water.)
5. Will you and Agriculture Minister Bob Speller commit to legislating a moratorium on the expansion of factory farms in Canada?
   (In communities where factory farms have been established, there has been widespread concern around the devastating implications of industrial farming practices on the environment and community health and welfare.)

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