National Chairperson’s Report
The movement for social and
economic justice keeps building,
and 2007 demonstrated
that citizen power is unstoppable
– even in the face of
power-hungry corporations and
Conservative governments.
I travelled to 21 cities across Canada
this year, spreading the message about
the urgent need for coordinated, global
action to protect the right to water, both
at home and abroad. People responded
in droves, organizing local Water Watch
groups and flooding Prime Minister
Harper’s office with letters demanding
that Canada reverse its position against
the right to water at the UN.
Council of Canadians supporters also
demanded a National Water Policy that
would protect Canada’s water politically
and economically – a need that was
made even more apparent when reports
surfaced about closed-door meetings
discussing the possibility of exporting
water in bulk to the U.S., under the
auspices of the Security and Prosperity
Partnership of North America (SPP).
And it was opposition to the SPP that
framed the Council of Canadians’ activism
this year, as we highlighted the way
the agreement affects the food we eat,
the air we breathe, and the civil liberties
and human rights we enjoy. As always, I
was inspired by the thousands of Council
members and supporters I had a chance
to meet this year in the midst my tour
for my new book Blue Covenant, during
the two fantastic teach-ins we held in
Ottawa on the SPP, and in Kelowna in
October during our wonderful annual
general meeting.
As I said during our Integrate This!
event in March, the stakes are very
high here. In our fight to stop the SPP,
protect public water and health care,
and promote fair trade, we have the
opportunity to defeat something that is
profoundly wrong for people and the
planet and to promote something very,
very different.
As we work together, I have no doubt
that 2008 will represent another milestone
year in the fight for a better
Canada, and a fairer, more just world.
- Maude Barlow
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Annual report 2007 (including summary statement of revenue and expenditure)
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Photo credit: Meera Karunananthan
