Barlow at ‘Boiling Point’ book tour event in Vancouver, September 29.
Council of Canadians chairperson Maude Barlow will be speaking in Peterborough this coming Tuesday about her new book, Boiling Point: Government Neglect, Corporate Abuse, and Canada’s Water Crisis.
In an e-mail to our supporters in the Peterborough area, Barlow says, “We are complacent. We bask in the idea that Canada holds 20 per cent of the world’s freshwater – water crises face other countries, but not ours. We could not be more wrong. In this book I lay bare the issues facing Canada’s water reserves, including long-outdated water laws, unmapped and unprotected groundwater reserves, agricultural pollution, industrial-waste dumping, boil-water advisories, and the effects of deforestation and climate change. This will be the defining issue of the coming decade, and most of us have no idea that it is on our very own doorstep.”
She adds, “My book is a cry from the heart. It is time to abandon our erroneous beliefs that Canada has unlimited supplies of water, that Canadians have taken care of this water heritage or that we still have lots of time to do so. We need a strong, national plan of action based on a new water ethic that puts water protection and water justice at the heart of all our policies and laws. The path forward is clear, if not simple.”
And just a few days ago, Peterborough This Week reported, “The program [for the November 1st event] released by the Council of Canadians is as follows:
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Opening Prayer from Elder Shirley Williams, and a drum song by a local Indigenous group of Janet McCue and Dewe’iganog Nagamog; -
Presentation by “Youth 4 Water”, a local indigenous youth group; -
Chief Phyllis Williams of Curve Lake Reserve will speak on misinformation on water issues, particularly in First Nations communities; -
Finally, Maude Barlow will speak, followed by moderated Question and Answer period, assisted by students from Trent University’s Student Association for International Development. -
Following the formal program will be opportunity for book sales and signing.”
The public forum will take place at Adam Scott Collegiate, 175 Langton St., on Tuesday November 1 from 7 to 9 pm.
To date, Barlow has taken the book tour to Ottawa (September 20), Kingston (September 21), Guelph (September 22), Toronto (September 23), Vancouver (September 29), Calgary (September 30), Belleville (October 3), St. John’s (October 14), and Saskatoon (October 18). Following Peterborough (November 1), she will be in Windsor (November 2), Barrie (November 7), London (November 9), Halifax (November 10), Renfrew (November 17), Chilliwack (November 21), and then Winnipeg (November 24).
Many of these book tour events are being organized by Council of Canadians chapters. In the acknowledgements section of her book, Barlow says, “Right across the country, tireless environmentalists, public sector workers and First Nations and community activists work day after day to protect water and local community rights. A special shout-out to the Council of Canadians chapters right across Canada, whose members give so freely of their time and talent.”
Copies of Boiling Point can be purchased at these book tour events or online through the publisher.
