The Council of Canadians said the message was clear at a packed Victoria town hall meeting on the 2014 health accord: the provinces and federal government must work together to negotiate a new health accord that reflects Canadian values and addresses growing spending on for-profit care. Council of Canadians chair Maude Barlow said the premiers … Read more
The Council of the Federation meeting on health sustainability is an opportunity for premiers to address growing out-of-pocket health care spending on for-profit care and demand federal funding commitment to a renewed health accord. The Council of Canadians said public health care advocates and allies from across Canada are calling on premiers to work together … Read more
The Council of Canadians is saddened by efforts from the government to yet again undermine multilateralism and the demands of developing countries, this time at the WTO with a harmful pledge against protectionism. The council also regrets that Canada continues to expand the WTO’s Government Procurement Agreement, which unnecessarily restricts public options for supporting local, sustainable … Read more
National chairperson of the Council of Canadians Maude Barlow reacted to the government’s announcement that Canada will exit from the Kyoto Protocol. Barlow said that the government has transformed Canada into a serial laggard on the most pressing issue of the current times, addressing climate change, which is severely damaging Canada's international reputation. Energy and climate campaigner Andrea … Read more
On the final day of the Durban climate talks, the Council of Canadians projected a 1984 CBC documentary about global warming by former journalist and current Environment Minister Peter Kent (Thornhill, ON) outside his own constituency office in Thornhill, ON. In the 28 year old documentary, Kent calls global warming “the greatest threat to life … Read more
The Council of Canadians said the Federal Court of Canada has issued a declaration stating that Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz (Battlefords-Lloydminster, SK) acted in breach of his statutory obligation to hold a plebiscite of farmers before abolishing the Canadian Wheat Board’s ‘single desk’ mandate for marketing wheat and barley. The Public Service Alliance of Canada, … Read more
The Council of Canadians will intervene in a hearing before the Federal Court in an effort to prevent the government from dismantling the Canadian Wheat Board. The council’s intervention points out that Bill C-18, Marketing Freedom for Grain Farmers Act, tramples constitutional values including freedom of association, the rule of law, and democracy. Joining the Council of Canadians … Read more
The Council of Canadians joined EU-based organizations in sending a clear message to the Prime Ministers of the UK, Netherlands and France in support of the EU Fuel Quality Directive. In ads published in the UK and Netherlands Financial Times and France’s Liberation this week, Prime Ministers were asked to put tackling climate change ahead … Read more
The Council of Canadians and the Public Service Alliance of Canada have been granted intervener status in the Friends of the Canadian Wheat Board’s legal challenge in defence of the Canadian Wheat Board. Food Secure Canada and ETC Group were also granted the right to intervene. The federal government is pushing forward to end the CWB’s single desk … Read more
Maude Barlow and Andrea Harden-Donahue of the Council of Canadians responded to news reports of the government's intention to leave the Kyoto Protocol. Barlow said this announcement, on the first day of the UN climate talks, is a betrayal to the goal of an effective international deal when many countries have been clear Kyoto is vital to … Read more
