Council of Canadians chairperson Maude Barlow spoke at an event called “The Future of Politics: The crises of capitalism and democracy” in Oshawa last night.
The outreach for the conference noted, “In an era of global instability, what lies ahead for the future of politics? Join the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities for our Public Conference.”
More than 300 people were there to hear Barlow and panelists York University political science professor David McNally, York University environmental studies professor Ravindra de Costa, Osgoode Hall Law School professor Craig Scott, and University of Toronto political science professor Judith Teichman.
Barlow highlighted in her presentation, “Hope is a moral imperative… There are forces & they’re going to fight back. We are going to fight back with vision.”
Barlow’s vision includes that:
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We protect Canada’s water and start with re-instating the water laws gutted by the Harper government. -
We stop building pipelines and start to move away from our dependence on extreme energy, tar sands oil and fracking. -
We tax corporations at the pre-Harper level and go after offshore tax havens. This would free up badly-needed billions. -
We stop equating corporate-dominated trade agreements with “openness to the world” and negotiate trade that serves the people. -
We create a national pharmacare program (remembering that CETA and TPP would prevent this crucial next step in health for all). -
We continue to build alliances with organized labour and support workers against globalization and unjust practices everywhere. -
We recognize, honour and defend the leadership shown by First Nations in the fight for environmental and social justice. -
We promise to protect the public trust and not allow public assets such as water services to be sold to the private sector. -
We bring the rule of law to Canadian mining companies behaving terribly in some countries of the global South. -
We remember in all our foreign policy that peace can only come if accompanied by justice. May we serve that goal always.
The event was organized by the University of Ontario Institute of Technology Faculty of Social Science and Humanities.