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Water
The Council of Canadians’ water campaign is calling for a national water policy that protects Canada’s water from bulk exports and privatization, because:
Download the Council of Canadians 2008 General Water Presentation
May 15-30
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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 The Federal Water Policy is over 20 years old and badly outdated.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. |
The Council of Canadians is organizing a public speaking tour to defend the Great Lakes as a commons, public trust and a protected bio-region. See tour stops and read more about our Great Lakes here.
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June 1-2
Shout Out Against Mining Injustice
The Council of Canadians is pleased to announce we are hosting a major event in Vancouver on June 1st and 2nd, 2012. Shout Out Against Mining Injustice is a two-day international conference aimed at exposing the appalling environmental and human rights abuses of Canadian mining companies. Through workshops, panel discussions and strategy sessions, we will raise awareness, build resistance and strengthen our networks of solidarity.
Our Shout Out will feature engaging sessions with leading activists and representatives from mining-impacted communities in Chile, Guatemala, Mexico, the Honduras, Ecuador and Canada. The conference starts on Friday, June 1st with a Public Forum featuring high profile speakers, community activists and musical acts. Saturday, June 2nd will offer delegates the chance to engage in discussion on vital issues ranging from the right to water, Indigenous rights and environmental justice within the context of mining. We will share experiences, explore campaign strategies and build alliances to strengthen the movement against mining injustice.
Check www.canadians.org/shoutout for regular updates.
Twenty-two chapters participated in World Water Day activities this year. Thank you for your commitment to water justice! As you know, there are few things more important than clean, safe water. But corporate control of drinking water, the growth of the bottled water industry, pollution from mining companies and fracking projects, and water shortages from droughts and over-extractions are all part of a growing global water crisis. Join us in marking the importance of World Water Day by organizing a water-themed event in your community. See what you can do and download resources here.
OP-ED: Don't Drink Harper's Water, Maude Barlow, Huffington Post, March 22, 2012
BLOG: A world Water Day Message to the Government of Canada, Meera Karunananthan, March 22, 2012
BLOG: Some thoughts on World Water Day from the UN, Anil Naidoo, March 22, 2012
Canadians call for funding commitments to realize human right to water
The water chapter of the Alternative Federal Budget (AFB), A Budget for the Rest of Us, calls for the federal government to carry out their international legal obligations on the human right to water and sanitation by committing $8.736 billion to critical water services.
The water chapter highlighted the UN’s recent recognition of the human right to water and sanitation. On September 23, 2011, the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) passed a resolution (A/HRC/18/L.1) on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation and called upon governments to develop comprehensive plans of action to progressively realize this right, monitor the implementation of these plans, ensure adequate financing and provide legal remedies for violations.
Canadians are concerned about water in Canada. The AFB water chapter proposes real action on water and the environment and shows with the rest of the AFB that protecting the environment is good for the environment and for protecting jobs.
The 2012 water chapter can be read here. Read the media release here.
Council of Canadians landed an F-35 Fighter Jet on Parliament Hill
Leading up to the release of the federal budget, the Council of Canadians landed a large toy F-35 fighter jet on Parliament Hill on March 26 to demand that the federal government prioritize funding for water infrastructure and water protection over the F-35s.
Right to water in Rio+20 text under threat in New York this week
It is becoming a tired tale to tell, but this Canadian government is again reaffirming its role among the absolute worst governments in the world when it comes to international negotiations and promoting human rights, equity and justice. They have made a name for themselves in the Climate Change negotiations consistently winning the fossil of the day, fossil of the year and fossil of the millennium awards (they would if there was one for the millennium!). Read more here.
Challenging water privatization at the World Water Forum
The Council of Canadians was in Marseille, France from March 12-17, at the 6th World Water Forum to counter the push for water privatization being put forward by some governments and multinational water corporations. The forum was attended by ministers, heads of states, corporate executives, hundreds of journalists and thousands of others. Past forums have been dominated by a handful of multinational food and water corporations with a strong agenda of privatization and corporate control of water. The Council also helped organize and plan events for the alternative world water forum (Forum Alternatif Mondial de l’Eau or the FAME), which took place in Marseilles, March 14 to 17.
Read more about both events here.
Don’t frack with our water, say majority of Canadians in new poll
The controversial practice of hydraulic fracturing, otherwise known as fracking, is facing mounting opposition across the country. A new Environics Research poll commissioned by the Council of Canadians has found that 62% of Canadians support “a moratorium on all fracking for natural gas until all the federal environmental reviews are complete”.
Don’t frack with our water, say majority of Canadians in new poll
Fracker Tracker
Fracking is expanding at a phenomenal rate across Canada. From the advanced projects in the Horn River Basin to industry land grabs in Ontario and Newfoundland, a full picture of fracking in Canada is only beginning to emerge. The fracker tracker is an interactive tool that maps where fracking is happening in Canada. The information provided by governments and industry sometimes provides an incomplete picture on what’s happening. The fracker tracker is intended to be used by people tracking the industry to help give a sense of the status of fracking in Canada. It is an interactive map where you can provide information about a project in your community or province. To see the Fracker Tracker, click here.
Protests disrupt Nestle chair receiving honorary degree at the University of Alberta
There has been an intense campaign underway for the past three-weeks opposing the University of Alberta’s decision to grant Nestle chairman Peter Brabeck-Letmathe an honorary degree and reports that he will be named to the university’s new advisory group on water.
Read the campaign highlights here.
MEDIA RELEASE: U of A appointment and degree for Nestle Chairman facing international backlash Over 70 organizations from more than 20 countries condemn Brabeck-Letmathe honorary degree
"We who live around the Great Lakes of North America have a very special responsibility to preserve and care for them in the light of the global reality now so clear."
Council of Canadians chairperson Maude Barlow and Michigan-based Flow for Water chair Jim Olson presented to the International Joint Commission in Washington, DC on Tuesday December 13.
Read Maude Barlow's remarks to the Commission here.
Read our blog post about the presentation here.
MEDIA RELEASE: Expiring nuclear waste shipping licence gives feds a second chance to do it right, says Barlow, February 2, 2012
Council of Canadians condemns decision to restart Prosperity Mine approval process
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
The Blue Communities Project
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.
See the latest communities who have become Blue Communities and read more about the project »
Maude Barlow addresses Assembly of First Nations convention, supports First Nations calls for internationally recognized human right to water
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.
UPDATE: Calzavara travels to Melancthon as crucial hearings begin
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) (português)
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
Poll indicates most Canadians want Harper to recognize the right to water and make water a budget priority
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 »
ACTION ALERT: Take the pledge and Unbottle it!
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
[17-May-12] Council of Canadians warns of loopholes in new federal water legislation
[10-May-12] Barlow to receive water award on eve of Great Lakes speaking tour
[07-May-12] Upcoming conference to expose truth about Canadian mining industry
[29-Mar-12] Council of Canadians demands McGuinty keep promise on Great Lakes funding
[22-Mar-12] Canada gets rare reprimand from UN for undermining right to water
OP-ED: Don't Drink Harper's Water, Maude Barlow, Huffington Post, March 22, 2012
[15-Mar-12] Canadians call for funding commitments to realize human right to water
[15-Mar-12] Backing the Tap: Campuses lead the way for Bottled Water Free Day 2012
[06-Mar-12] New report exposes Canadian connection to controversial dams and mines in Chile
[02-Mar-12] Canada blocks right to water in international document at upcoming meetings in Marseille
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
Publications
Factsheet: We Must Take Action to Protect the Great Lakes Forever
Handbill: 5 Things you can do to protect the Great Lakes
2012 - National Water Policy, Alternative Federal Budget
Chilean Patagonia in the Balance: Dams, Mines and the Canadian Connection
By Alex Latta and Kari Williams for The Council of Canadians, January 2012
sheds light on controversial projects in Chile involving Canadian mining companies (1.37 MB)
Fact Sheet: Myths Versus Realities: Getting the facts about fracking, February 2012
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
“Do you have running water? I don’t and I live in Canada”, Canadian Perspectives, Autumn 2011
Feds Need to Face the Facts about Fracking, Canadian Perspectives, Autumn 2011
Mega Quarry Would Be a Mega Mistake, Canadian Perspectives, Autumn 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
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By Maude Barlow, June 2011 Available in: |
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Leaky Exports: A portrait of the virtual water trade in Canada By Nabeela Rahman, Maude Barlow, Meera Karunananthan, May 2011 |
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Our Great Lakes Commons: A People's Plan to Protect the Great Lakes Forever By Maude Barlow, March 2011 |
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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 CanadiansMaude 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.
More publications here »
Multimedia
Great Lakes Need Great Friends tour stop in Toronto, May 15, 2012 Part 1 (left) Part 2, Maude Barlow, Kathleen Padulo, Kevin McMahon |
Council of Canadians chairperson Maude Barlow spoke at the main plenary session on 'the implementation of the right to water' at the 'Forum Alternatif Mondial de l'Eau' in Marseille, France on March 15, 2012.
On Saturday March 17, 2012, an estimated 5,000 people marched for water justice on the streets of Marseille, France. With this as the background, Council of Canadians chairperson
Maude Barlow interviewed about the World Water Forum and the history of the alternative water forums that have challenged the corporate-controlled 'official forum.
See more of the protest march that day - that begins with some terrific drumming and then at the 4-minute mark a Chilean water activist friend of ours with the Council of Canadians banner here.
Watch Council of Canadians/ Blue Planet Project water campaigner Meera Karunananthan interviewed by Attac-TV for the Forum Alternatif Mondial de l'Eau here.
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]
‘Water On The Table’
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)
AUDIO: Maude Barlow on CBC's The Current, March 20, 2009
More multimedia here »
Recent action alerts
ACTION ALERT: Help keep the Great Lakes great!
Tell the McGuinty government you want real change in Great Lakes protection and support declaring the Great Lakes as commons, public trust and protected bioregion!
ACTION ALERT: Save the Great Lakes forever petition
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.
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: 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
ACTION ALERT: Take the pledge and Unbottle it!
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.
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
More action alerts here »
TAKE ACTION!
Here are just a few things you can do:
- Join a local chapter of The Council of Canadians.
- Read and distribute our materials.
- Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper.
- Donate to The Council of Canadians.
- Tell a friend about the Council's website
Call 1-800-387-7177, or email inquiries@canadians.org, for more information on how you can support The Council of Canadians.
