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SECTIONS

Water - 2009

[29-Nov-09] Governments Must Act to Protect Water: Blue Summit

[23-Nov-09] Council of Canadians warns against Alberta water market plans

[18-Nov-09] Support Bill 32 to close Site 41, says Council of Canadians

[22-Sept-09] Site 41 win highlights need for action on water at the provincial and federal level

[21-Sept-09] Council of Canadians calls on Simcoe County to Close Site 41 Permanently

[18-Sept-09] Council of Canadians calls for all Site 41 Charges to be Dropped

[16-Sept-09] Halifax Bans Bottled Water at City Hall - Coalition calls it “good first step”

[21-Aug-09] New Site 41 information makes a one-year moratorium imperative, Council of Canadians tells McGuinty

[20-Aug-09] Council Of Canadians And CUPE Ontario Take Site 41 Moratorium Message To Airwaves Across Simcoe County

[17-Aug-09] Site 41 controversy spills over into Wikipedia

[14-Aug-09] Site 41 debate heads from the courtroom back to council chambers

[12-Aug-09] Toronto to Rally for a Site 41 Moratorium

[11-Aug-09] Council of Canadians ups the ante on Site 41 with full-page ads calling for a one-year moratorium

[07-Aug-09] Site 41 needs a political solution, says Council of Canadians

[29-July-09] Council of Canadians Statement on Site 41 Case Adjournment

[27-July-09] Site 41 was never authorized by Simcoe County, Barrie Court to hear on Wednesday

[22-July-09] Controversy Over Site 41 Heads to Court, Simcoe County Targets Peaceful Protesters

[20-July-09] OPP Commissioner Fantino notified that Site 41 is Illegal, urged to ‘resume a neutral stance’

[16-July-09] OPP threatens arrests at Site 41, protesters will not yield

[14-July-09] New Conflict of Interest Confirms Site 41 is Out of Control, says Council of Canadians

[06-July-09] Simcoe County should stop Site 41 construction now

[18-June-09] Council of Canadians denied access to Aquablue press conference

[11-June-09] Council of Canadians demands halt to construction of waste dump

[7-May-09] Atlantic Water Speaking Tour Calls for Blue Communities Not Toxic Dumps

[6-May-09] Native Ceremonial Elders from the USA join Native Environmentalists from Canada to Protect the Waters of Georgian Bay from proposed Dump Site 41

[30-Apr-09] Vancouver Unbottles It in Time for Olympics

[29-Apr-09] Liberals encouraged to support right to water at Vancouver convention

[24-Apr-09] United Nations Discusses the Human Right to Water

[21-Apr-09] Maude Barlow to Address UN General Assembly

[17-Apr-09] Ottawa Folk Festival 2009 to be Unplugged and Unbottled

[22-Mar-09] Over Twenty countries challenge Ministerial Declaration of World Water Forum

[19-Mar-09] UN President tells corporate-controlled World Water Forum "water is a human right"

[17-Mar-09] Barlow says Harper must recognize the right to water to deserve UN Security Council seat

[16-Mar-09] Council outraged by police actions against water justice activists in Istanbul

[12-Mar-09] Parliament building to be painted blue for World Water Day celebration

[7-Mar-09] Tide Has Turned on Bottled Water, says Council of Canadians

[5-Mar-09] FCM bottled water resolution sends the right message to cities, says Council of Canadians

[24-Feb-09] Niagara Falls Unbottles It

[13-Feb-09] Barlow tells Brussels conference that water is a human right

[29-Jan-09] Coalition launches Facebook Campaign to Stop Dump Site 41

[20-Jan-09] UnBottle It Canada!

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MEDIA RELEASE
For Immediate Release
August 17, 2009

Site 41 controversy spills over into Wikipedia

A hotly contested waste dump proposed for Simcoe County, which is facing growing opposition across Canada, is stirring up yet another controversy – this time on the Internet-based encyclopedia, Wikipedia. The original August 6, 2009 entry, titled "North Simcoe Landfill (Site 41)", discussed the site but made no mention of the widespread debate about Site 41 and was created by a user named "CountyofSimcoe".

The entry for Site 41 on Wikipedia has been flagged by users of the online encyclopedia because "the article does not cite any references or sources", "The neutrality of [the] article is disputed", and "A major contributor to this article appears to have a conflict of interest with its subject". While the article has been edited by other Wikipedia users to include some information about the opposition to Site 41 it is still heavily biased, argues the Council of Canadians.

"With the resistance to Site 41 all over national newspapers and radio, to post a blatantly biased Wikipedia article is truly a sign that proponents of the site are fighting a losing battle and they know it," says Maude Barlow, National Chairperson of the Council of Canadians. "The Council of Canadians is inviting the general public to correct the obvious bias of the Site 41 Wikipedia article."

Despite ongoing efforts by some Site 41 proponents to evade a debate on the issue, three key outstanding issues about Site 41 that the Council of Canadians is looking to have answered are now confirmed agenda items at the upcoming Simcoe County council meeting on August 25, as a result of an agreement in Barrie court on Friday.

"Simcoe County councillors will at last have the chance to discuss and debate a one-year moratorium on the site's development, the release of the ModFlow calibration, and discover who authorized the county's legal actions against its own constituents in the first place," says Barlow.

"In fact, the County should immediately halt construction as a result of the court decision, at least until the 25th, now that everyone agrees that political direction for this ill-conceived project is long overdue," says Barlow. Several local councils in Simcoe County have passed motions for a moratorium in the last week, including Tiny Township where the controversial dump is located.

The Site 41 Wikipedia entry can be read at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Simcoe_Landfill_(Site_41)

The editing history of the entry can be reviewed at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=North_Simcoe_Landfill_(Site_41)&action=history

Wikipedia Policies and Guidelines:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Policies_and_guidelines

-30-

For More Information:

Dylan Penner, Council of Canadians, 613-795-8685, dpenner@canadians.org.
       
 

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