John B. Challinor, the Director of Corporate Affairs for Nestlé Waters Canada, writes in the Daily News, “In the case of bottled water, the bans are advocated by students’ unions, but are orchestrated by outside organizations like the Council of Canadians, Polaris Institute and the Canadian Union of Public Employees. Too many student union leaders on Canadian campuses have delegated their thinking on bottled water to CUPE and other anti-bottled water advocates.”
“The decision to ban the sale of bottled water at Vancouver Island University was founded on a fiction about bottled water, justified by a plebiscite only a minority of students participated in and driven by special interests rather than reasoned procurement policies. As a consequence, those staff and students who rely on bottled water for legitimate health reasons, the institution’s operating budget and, ultimately, its academic reputation will be poorer for it.”
Challinor has written letters to the editor citing the Council of Canadians as far back as March 2009, http://canadians.org/blog/?p=156.
It is worth noting that Challinor recently served as the President of the Board of Directors of the Halton Conservative Association. The riding, near Guelph, is presently held by Conservative MP Lisa Raitt, now the Minister of Labour.
