The Council of Canadians

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Founded in 1985 to oppose the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, the Council of Canadians is a citizens' organization that advocates for progressive policies on behalf of its members across the country. The Council concentrates its advocacy around the core issues of fair trade, public health care and the right to water, but has recently focused on what it calls the deep integration of Canada with the United States.

The Council of Canadians is chaired by Maude Barlow, who is best known internationally for her work on water. In 2005, Barlow received the Right Livelihood Award, or the "Alternative Nobel Prize," with Tony Clarke, "for their exemplary and longstanding worldwide work for trade justice and the recognition of the fundamental human right to water." In 2002 Barlow and Clarke published Blue Gold: the Battle Against Corporate Theft of the World's Water, which was published in 40 countries.

In 2005, Barlow published a book on Canada-U.S. relations called Too Close for Comfort: Canada's Future Within Fortress North America. It argued that Canada and the United States were being pulled together by stealth through a series of working groups devoted to the harmonization of continental regulations on trade, the environment, immigration and citizenship, and labour.

In her latest book Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle for the Right to Water, Barlow lays out the actions that we as global citizens must take to secure a water-just world — a “blue covenant” for all.

Internationally, the Council is recognized for its role in blocking the Multilateral Agreement on Investment, which would have allowed corporations to challenge national laws, even those related to environmental and labour regulations, if the laws hurt profits.

The Council publishes a seasonal magazine called Canadian Perspectives.

Contents

[edit] Campaigns

[edit] Board of Directors (2006/2007)

Maude Barlow — Author and National Chairperson of The Council of Canadians

Leticia Adair — Coordinator, immigrant and refugee support services, Diocese of Saint John.

Bob Ages — Financial analyst, former coordinator of the Manitoba Coalition Against Free Trade.

Morna Ballantyne — Managing director of the Canadian Union of Public Employees’ union education and development services.

Pina Belperio — Researcher, community activist, writer and journalist. Founder of citizen watchdog group “Whistler Watch”.

Roy Brady — Community activist, retired elementary schoolteacher and former Chair of the Peterbrough Health Coalition.

Leo Broderick — Retired teacher, past president of the P.E.I. Teachers’ Federation and former vice-president of the Canadian Teachers’ Federation.

Robert Chernomas — Professor of Economics at University of Manitoba.

Andrea Furlong — Youth Care worker and former special projects officer with Conservation Corps Newfoundland and Labrador. Studied community and economic development in Zimbabwe.

Garry John — Chief of the Seton Lake Band and the Chair and spokesperson of the St’at’imc Chiefs Council.

Gordon Laxer — Political economist at the University of Alberta and Director of the Parkland Institute.

Claire McNeil — Legal aid lawyer and educator, works with individuals and groups on a rang of low-income issues in the are of mental health, law, housing and income support.

Marion Moore — Librarian and community activist, former chair of Lunenburg County Project Ploughshares and Bridgewater Amnesty international group.

Garry Neil — Policy issues management consultant working in all cultural industries, media commentator and former general secretary of ACTRA and vice-president of the Canadian Conference of the Arts.

Martha Robbins — Former prairies organizer for the Canadian Federation of Students and youth president of the National Farmers Union. Works with Via Campesina, the international peasant movement.

Steven Shrybman — Practices international trade and public interest law in Ottawa.

Louise Vandelac — Professor in the Sociology Department and the Environmental Sciences Institute at the University du Québec à Montréal.

Angela Vardy — Former Fredericton chapter organizer. Registered social worker with a focus on social advocacy, empowerment and activism.

Fred Wilson — Trade union and community activist, assistant to the president, communications, energy and paperworkers Union of Canada.

[edit] External links

[edit] Chapters

Atlantic Organizing Office

 (902) 422-7811

Nova Scotia

  • Annapolis Valley, NS
  • Halifax, NS
  • Queen, NS
  • Pictou County, NS
  • South Shore, NS
  • Tatamagouche, NS

New Brunswick

  • Fredericton, NB
  • Greater Moncton, NB
  • Saint John, NB
  • Tantramar, NB

Prince Edward Island

  • Charlottetown, PEI

Newfoundland and Labrador

  • St. John’s, NL

Ontario-Quebec-Nunavut Organizing Office

 (416) 979-5554

1-800-208-7156 Ontario

  • Brant-Haldimand-Norfolk, ON
  • Cambridge, ON
  • Chatham-Kent, ON
  • Durham Region, ON
  • Grey-Bruce, ON
  • Guelph, ON
  • Hamilton, ON
  • Kingston, ON
  • London, ON
  • Niagara Region, ON
  • Northumberland, ON
  • Ottawa, ON
  • Peel Region, ON
  • Peterborough-Kawarthas, ON
  • Thunder Bay, ON
  • Toronto, ON
  • Windsor, ON

Nunavut

  • Iqaluit

Quebec

Prairies Organizing Office

 (780) 429-4500

1-877-729-4500 Alberta

  • Calgary, AB
  • Edmonton, AB
  • Red Deer, AB
  • Sturgeon Strathcona, AB
  • University of Alberta, AB

Manitoba

  • Winnipeg, MB

Saskatchewan

  • Fort Saskatchewan
  • Moose Jaw, SK
  • Prince Albert, SK
  • Quill Plains, SK
  • Regina, SK
  • Sakewew Awasisak, SK (youth chapter)
    North Battleford, SK

British Columbia-Yukon Organizing Office

 (604) 688-8846

1-888-566-3888 British Columbia

  • Bulkley Valley, BC
  • Campbell River, BC
  • Comox Valley, BC
  • Coquitlam/ Port Coquitlam & Port Moody, BC
  • Cowichan Valley, BC
  • Dawson Creek, BC
  • East Kootenays, BC
  • Kamloops, BC
  • Kelowna, BC
  • Lillooet, BC
  • Maple Ridge, BC
  • Mid-Island-Nanaimo, BC
  • Nelson/West Kootenays, BC
  • New Westminster, BC
  • Pender Island, BC
  • Port Alberni, BC
  • Powell River, BC
  • Prince George, BC
  • Quesnel, BC
  • Richmond/Delta, BC
  • Salmon Arm, BC
  • Squamish, BC
  • Sunshine Coast, BC
  • Surrey-Langley-White Rock, BC
  • Vancouver North Shore, BC
  • Vancouver, BC
  • Vernon, BC
  • Victoria, BC
  • Whistler, BC
  • Williams Lake, BC

Yukon

  • Whitehorse, YK
Languages