Recent highlights from the Council of Canadians
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- Published on Sunday, 29 November -0001 16:00
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Water Drops delivered to Parliament
Guaranteeing the human right to water is one of the Council’s foundational principles. We’re also committed to raising up the next generation of activists and showing them that when we organize, we can make a difference. These commitments were on display in Ottawa recently when we delivered the most recent round of Water Drops to Parliament. These hand-written notes and drawings remind the Prime Minister that the promise he made eight years ago, to finally put an end to drinking water advisories on First Nations reserves, has still not been fulfilled. We displayed them on the fence surrounding Parliament Hill and then delivered them to the Prime Minister’s office across the street.
Although progress has been made in ending these advisories – thanks largely to constant public pressure – there are still 26 First Nations that don’t have access to clean drinking water. Some of these Nations have been waiting almost 30 years for something that is readily available in settler communities across the country. Until drinking water advisories are ended on every First Nation from coast-to-coast-to-coast, we will continue with our Water Drop campaign, and we will continue to show young people that their activism can make an impact.
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Pharmacare will save us a s***load
Following months of high-profile resignations from the Patented Medicines Price Review Board (PMPRB), as well as a series of pharmacare town halls put on by the Council of Canadians from coast-to-coast, the federal NDP tabled a private member’s bill meant to push pharmacare legislation forward. And although the Liberal government has been promising pharmacare for years, the bill, called Bill C-340, an Act to Enact the Canada Pharmacare Act, was not met with enthusiasm by some members of the Liberal caucus, including one Liberal insider who said, “It’s pharmacare. It’s going to be a s***load of money, right?”But the Liberals’ own Advisory Council on Implementing Pharmacare, convened in 2018 and led by Dr. Eric Hoskins, addressed questions of cost and found that pharmacare would save billions, not to mention the lives saved and quality of life improvements that would accompany such legislation. While the Liberals have apparently not paid attention to their own advisory council or its report, we have. Read our two-part analysis of why pharmacare will, in fact, save us a s***load of money. Read Part 1
Pearl White Quills singing at the Canada is Burning rally with the Calgary Chapter yesterday.
Canada is Burning Day of Action
On June 28th hundreds of people across the country joined together in the Canada is Burning Day of Action. People rallied in front of MP offices all over Canada to demand climate justice. The event was particularly meaningful as portions of the country remain blanketed by smoke and fires rage at rates that are unprecedented for this time of year. Those who rallied were calling on the federal government to stop the fossil fuel industry, meaning no more subsidies, no new projects, and no more industry influence over our politics, and to enact a just transition by urgently shifting us to 100 per cent renewables while generating millions of unionized jobs, following Indigenous leadership, and aligning with climate science.
Join us in fighting for a just transition
“Sustainable Jobs” bill shows us we need to ramp up our organizing
After promising just transition legislation, in June the federal government finally delivered its “Sustainable Jobs Act.” While the bill is not nothing – it contains, for example, important provisions for workers and communities – it’s a far cry from the just transition legislation we need. The bill is full of false solutions like SMRs and CCUS, while lacking any language about social, economic, or climate justice, or free, prior, and informed consent for Indigenous people. It doesn’t even contain the words “just transition.”
More than anything, the bill tells us two things: our organizing, advocacy, and the pressure we’re putting on MPs is having an impact (we almost certainly wouldn’t have gotten even this without it), and we must double down and apply more pressure if we want to see the legislation we need to get us through the climate crisis.
Algonquin Nations oppose radioactive waste dump on their unceded territory
Chiefs of two Algonquin First Nations and the Grand Chiefs of the Algonquin Anishinabeg Nation Tribal Council (AANTC) and the Algonquin Nation Secretariat (ANS) – representing 10 of the 11 Algonquin First Nations – called on the federal government to abandon the current plan for a massive, aboveground radioactive waste dump on unceded Algonquin territory near the Ottawa River or Kichi Sibi. The chiefs were joined by Elizabeth May, Leader of the Green Party of Canada and MP for Saanich-Gulf Islands, who strongly urged the government to respect Indigenous Rights in its dealings with Algonquin First Nations.
For the past two years, the Algonquin Anishinaabeg peoples have been expressing deep concerns about the proposal to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC), which regulates the nuclear industry for the federal government.
Algonquin Nations will present their conclusions about the Near Surface Disposal Facility (NSDF) to a hearing of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) on August 10th. Chief Lance Haymond and Chief Dylan Whiteduck of Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation say the CNSC has failed to fulfill the duty to consult. Consultation occurred too late in the process, and CNSC’s staff treated the NSDF as a foregone conclusion.
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