Contents

4/13/11

A Chance for Fairness in Oregon!

SB 334 originally introduced introduced in the Oregon legislature gives Judges discretionary power to order joint custody. The entire language in HB 3064 will also be in the amendment. HB 3064 is essentially stalled in the Human Service Committee on the House side. What we are doing is called a "gut and stuff" which essentially allows us to politically maneuver around the politics of the stalled HB 3064 in the Human Services Committee on the House side and moves the bill to the Senate side where we have a much greater chance of moving the bill. Senator Prozanski who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee and is a supporter for us and has agreed to allow the amendment, hear the bill, and schedule a work session. It is a requirement for all bills to be on the schedule before April 1 or they die, so we have certainly overcome a major obstacle, but there are more to come.

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE BILL

7/30/10

Win! UN General Assembly passes historic Human Right to Water and Sanitation resolution. On July 28, 2010, the United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly agreed to a resolution declaring the human right to “safe and clean drinking water and sanitation.” The resolution, presented by the Bolivian government, had 122 countries vote in its favour, while 41 countries – including Canada – abstained.
For more than a decade the water justice movement, including the Council of Canadians' Blue Planet Project, has been calling for UN leadership on this critical issue. Right now nearly 2billion people live in water-stressed areas of the world and 3 billion have no running water within a kilometre of their homes. Every eight seconds, a child dies of water-borne disease – deaths that would be easily preventable with access to clean, safe water.
“This is truly an historic day,” said Maude Barlow, National Chairperson of the Council of Canadians who was at the UN meeting for the vote. ”When the 1948 Universal Declaration on Human Rights was written, no one could foresee a day when water would be a contested area. But in 2010, it is not an exaggeration to say that the lack of access to clean water is the greatest human rights violation in the world.” Barlow was joined for the important vote by the Council of Canadians’ National Water Campaigner Meera Karunananthan and Blue Planet Project Organizer Anil Naidoo.
To read more about the urgent need for the human right to water and the Canadian government’s shameful position against it go here.
For additional resources visit our Blue Planet project website.
VIDEO: Maude Barlow: A Human Right to Water, GRITtv, July 28, 2010
UN to vote on right to water, Toronto Star, July 27, 2010
Canada must support the right to water, Embassy, Maude Barlow, Meera Karunananthan, and Anil Naidoo, July 21, 2010
Access to clean water is most violated human right, The Guardian UK , Maude Barlow, July 21, 2010
A human right Canada rejects: Access to clean water, The Toronto Star, Maude Barlow and Anil Naidoo, June 13, 2010
 

‘Water On The Table’

A documentary featuring Maude Barlow by filmmaker Liz Marshall. The film highlights Maude’s work to have water recognized as a human right at the United Nations, to stop the Site 41 landfill in Simcoe County, and to stop the destruction wrought by the tar sands in northern Alberta. www.wateronthetable.com
Learn more about the right to water »
Learn more about the Blue Communities Project »

Water markets

Council joins groups in Alberta saying: Our Water is Not for Sale!
The Council of Canadians has joined with almost 50 organizations and high-profile individuals in Alberta in the Our Water is Not for Sale campaign, which includes a broad network of environmental groups, First Nations, social justice organizations, farmers, land owners, small businesses, municipal politicians, academics and members of the faith community opposed to the provincial government’s plans to introduce legislation to create a province-wide, deregulated water market.
The network released an open letter in opposition to water markets, calling on the government to fully investigate non-market solutions to the growing water crisis in the province, and to hold broad and meaningful consultation with Albertans and First Nations governments before implementing any changes to the current Water Act.
The open letter can be signed by organizations and individuals in Alberta on the network’s website at www.ourwaterisnotforsale.com . The website also contains background information, additional action steps people can take and experiences from other jurisdictions that have implemented water markets.
For more information about our work to stop water markets in Alberta go here.
 

Schedule 2

On June 4, at media conferences in St. John’s and Ottawa, a legal challenge was launched against Schedule 2 of the Fisheries Act. During the media conference, those passing by were asked to sign action cards opposing Schedule 2. The Council of Canadians has already collected almost 9,000 signatures on these petitions. Read more…


 

Q: When is a lake not a lake?

A: When the Canadian Government says it should be a dump for mine waste.
Lakes across Canada are being destroyed by mining waste. Lakes that would normally be protected as fish habitat by the Fisheries Act are now being redefined as “tailings impoundment areas” according to a 2002 “schedule” added to the Metal Mining Effluent Regulations of the Act. Once added to Schedule 2, healthy freshwater lakes lose all protection and become dump sites for mining waste. Mining companies have the go-ahead to dump their tailings into perfectly healthy bodies of water, such as Sandy Pond in Newfoundland, Fish Lake in British Columbia, and Bamoos Lake in Ontario. Twelve pristine water bodies are currently slated for destruction under this law.
Vancouver-based Taseko Mines Ltd is proposing to drain Teztan Biny (Fish Lake) in B.C. in order to stockpile solid waste and use Fish Creek and Little Fish Lake as tailings impoundment areas for a gold-copper mining project called Prosperity Mine. Read more about Teztan Biny, recent public hearings and find out what you can do to help save this lake here.
BLOG: Read blog posts on Teztan Biny (Fish Lake) by Brent Patterson, Director of Campaigns and Communications
Sandy Pond, near Long Harbour, N.L., is also on the hit list. The mine tailings that Vale Inco plans to dump into the lake will destroy the lake, causing irreversible damage.
Click here for Environment Canada’s list of 12 lakes proposed for destruction.  
 

3 World Water Wins
Around the world, people are taking control of their water supply.

By Maude Barlow, Anil Naidoo, Meera Karunananthan, Yes Magazine, May 27, 2010
Everybody needs water as much as they need air or food. So what happens when a corporation steps in and turns public water into private profit? It can spell disaster in a poor community or a place where clean water is scarce. Read article »
 

A journey into the world of water

Aqua is a moving and visually stunning exhibit about the water crisis and its impacts on people and the environment at the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa, running from May 22 until September 6, 2010.
If you've just seen AQUA or heard about us from One Drop and would like to know more about the Council of Canadians, go here.
 

Council of Canadians raises concerns about C-26

The Council of Canadians is concerned with the newly introduced Bill C-26, An Act to amend the International Boundary Waters Treaty Act and the International River Improvements Act.
COVERAGE: Federal bill to strengthen ban on bulk water exports comes under fire
MEDIA: Council of Canadians warns of loopholes in new federal water legislation
UPDATE: Council concerned about C-26
NEWS: Harper introduces bulk water legislation

Maude Barlow spoke on 'Paani' at Cannes Film Festival

On May 14, Council of Canadians chairperson Maude Barlow spoke at a media conference at the Cannes Film Festival on ‘Paani’, a film in pre-production to be released in 2011. It is the first major motion picture to deal directly with issues of water justice and scarcity.
MEDIA: Maude Barlow to join launch of 'Paani' at Cannes Film Festival
NEWS: Maude Barlow at launch of 'Paani' in Cannes
 

Council of Canadians stands with Grassy Narrows

Council of Canadians chairperson Maude Barlow, water campaigner Meera Karunananthan, and Ontario-Quebec organizer Mark Calzavara participated in events in Toronto last week to call on the McGuinty government to help the people of Grassy Narrows and protect the water for future generations. Read more »
On April 6, Maude Barlow also spoke at a press
conference on the latest Grassy Narrows mercury health study. Click here.
VIDEO: Maude Barlow addresses crowd at public talk on Grassy Narrows

Photo 1: Maude Barlow addresses public at event on April 6.
Photo 2: Meera Karunananthan speaks at the River Run Rally on April 7.

 

Women and Water in Canada: The Significance of Privatization and Commercialization Trends for Women’s Health

Submission to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights for the Independent Expert on the issue of human rights obligations related to access to safe drinking water and sanitation. Read the report here »
Prepared for the National Network on Environments and Women’s Health with the involvement of: The Council of Canadians, Women and Health Care Reform, Prairie Women’s Health Centre of Excellence, March 2010
AUDIO: Women and Water in Canada
CBC Radio's The Current notes, "There was a report released on International Women's Day looking at an issue touching on the quality of life for women, particularly poor women. It's called Women & Water in Canada: The Significance of Privatization and Commercialization Trends for Women's Health and it was submitted to the United Nations' Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. One of the groups involved with the report was the Council of Canadians, and Meera Karunananthan is the water campaigner for the Council. We reached her at her office in Ottawa."
Listen to the interview here.
 

Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan
investing in private, for-profit water services in Chile

The Council of Canadians has launched a campaign calling on the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (OTPP) to stop investing in private, for-profit water services in Chile. Read more »
MEDIA: Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan must divest from privatized water in Chile, says Council of Canadians, Council of Canadians, January 28, 2010
NEWS: Ontario teachers' pension plan in deep over ties to Chilean private water sector, Edmonton Journal, February 5, 2010
If you are a teacher, or a former teacher, please click here to sign the petition calling on the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan to divest from private water in Chile.

 

THE COUNCIL OF CANADIANS CHALLENGES THE G8 AND G20

The G8/G20 summits are over in Toronto, but the call for a independent, public inquiry continues. Visit www.canadians.org/g20 for updates about responses to the police actions during the G8/20 from across the country including photos, videos, and interviews from leading activists.
The Council of Canadians was able to make numerous credible interventions over the past several weeks against the agenda and the very existence of the G8 and G20 summits including the following actions:

		PROTESTS AT THE MINISTERIALS: We spoke out against the G7, G8 and G20 ministerials in Iqaluit, Gatineau, and Halifax leading up to the summits in Huntsville and Toronto.
		SCRAP THE SUMMITS: Our ’scrap the summits’ and ‘these meetings should be moved to the UN’ message appeared in many commentaries, editorials, speeches and common discourse.
		EAR PLUGS TO COUNTER LRADS: We quickly challenged the infringement on civil liberties by the Toronto police and their purchase of LRADs by handing out free ear-plugs.
		ON-LINE POLL: We asked people through an on-line poll if the billion dollars spent on the summits was a good use of public money. 53 people said ‘yes’, 21 said they ‘don’t know’, and an overwhelming 823 said ‘no’.
		RIDICULING THE FAKE LAKE: We repeatedly highlighted in the media the folly of $2 million spent on the construction of a fake lake for the G20 summit.
		THE PEOPLES SUMMIT: We were a large part of the Peoples Summit, with Maude Barlow opening the forum and numerous staff offering workshops on key issues to many people.
		SUMMITS EXPENSE CLOCK: From Friday morning at 9 am to Sunday afternoon at 12 noon, we had a ‘summits expense clock’ on our website that gave a second-by-second tally of the $1.24 billion spent on the summits. More on that here.
		CANOE PROTEST: We were in numerous newspapers and television news reports when we took to canoes to take our ’scrap the summits’ message to the Deerhurst Resort near Huntsville.
		CHALLENGING THE FIVE-METRE LAW: We challenged the law brought in for the summit that anyone has to produce identification and state their purpose for being within 5 metres of the security fence, by measuring 5 metres out from the fence and marking the line with yellow tape for the media.
		SHOUT OUT FOR GLOBAL JUSTICE: We sold out Massey Hall and had an incredible line-up of powerful speakers (the real world leaders) address the 2,700 people in attendance as well as many others who watched the forum by web-cast in communities across Canada and at the US Social Forum in Detroit. Click here to see a photostream and multimedia.
		PEOPLE FIRST RALLY AND MARCH: We joined with 25,000 others for a peaceful march through the city on Saturday afternoon. Click here to see a photostream
And now we are calling for a PUBLIC INQUIRY into the policing actions and security operations during the G20 summit in Toronto. More on that here.

To see a photo gallery and find links to videos for our Shout Out for Global Justice! event, please go here. A photo gallery for the People's First march and rally can be found here.

Read more analysis about the G8 and G20 Summits on the Campaign, Trade and Energy blogs.
MEDIA: New interactive website shines spotlight on 'The Real G8/G20', July 8, 2010
 

Council of Canadians challenges Canada-EU free trade deal

In May 2009, negotiations were launched for a Canada-European Union trade agreement.
Canadian corporations are looking for better access to the European market without having to meet stricter EU rules. European negotiators want Canadian services contracts, with the aim of transferring the $100 to $200 billion our local governments spend annually on goods and services into corporate profits.
An agreement with the European Union would put pressure on provincial governments to privatize public services, including in areas such as water, transportation, child care and public health care.
We need to put the brakes on this deal before negotiations can conclude in 2011. Read more »
Read blog posts from Brussels by Brent Patterson, Director of Campaigns and Communications.
MEDIA: Council of Canadians to challenge Canada-EU trade deal in Brussels, July 9, 2010
Open Civil Society Declaration: On a proposed Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between Canada and the European Union. Read and add your organization to this statement here »
Letter endorsed by civil society groups on the inadequacy of the government’s Canada-EU trade briefings, February 23, 2010

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Tweet-In 4 Colombia

On May 25, 2010, Council of Canadians had its third Tweet-In 4 Colombia as Canada’s trade committee heard from various witnesses for and against an FTA. Council of Canadians' board member Steven Shrybman presented on the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement. On Tuesday, May 11, our first Tweet-In stopped the Harper Conservatives from moving to SHUT DOWN DEBATE by the Standing Committee on International Trade on the Canada-Colombia free trade agreement. On Thursday May 13, we were on Twitter again as the Committee heard from Barbara Wood, Executive Director of Co-Development Canada and Council of Canadians Director of Organizing Carleen Pickard. By tweeting the words and actions of our MPs in real time we gave tens of thousands of people who could not be at the trade committee meeting in person updates on what was happening on the room as well as encouraged then to take action. Read more here.

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Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement (TILMA)

Saskatchewan joins the TILMA club without public consultation
On May 31, 2010, the governments of Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia signed an agreement called the New West Partnership but we might as well call it by its true name: TILMA. The “partnership” is nothing but the Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement with a new name and all the same negative consequences for Saskatchewan. Read more here.

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'Corporate profits or human rights?' public forum

On April 8, 2010 the Council of Canadians participated in a public forum in Toronto to rally opposition to the Canada Colombia Free Trade Agreement.
Carleen Pickard, our Director of Organizing, spoke to the more than 200 people assembled about the need to reject the 'Brison deal' aimed at getting Bill C-2 through parliament. To take action on this, click here.
Carleen was also recently in Colombia on a pre-electoral observation mission. The report from that mission is here.
To read her blog on last night's forum, click here.

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International Pre-Electoral Observation Mission to Colombia questions timing of Canada–Colombia Free Trade Agreement

As the Canadian Parliament considers ratifying the Canada–Colombia Free Trade Agreement (Bill C-2), a recently returned international mission of pre-election observers (including Carleen Pickard of the Council of Canadians) released its final report on Saturday March 13 which concludes:
“The serious concerns raised by the pre-electoral mission combined with the ongoing human rights violations and the continued climate of impunity in Colombia further support the immediate halt of the CCFTA and the call for an independent and comprehensive human rights impact assessment.   Canada entering into a free trade agreement with Colombia now not only sends the wrong message to Canadians and the Colombian regime, it also may make Canada and Canadian companies complicit or passive supporters of continued violence in Colombia.”
Read the full media release here.
Read more »

WIN! Public pressure leads to hearings on Canada-US procurement deal

Thanks to everyone who responded to our February 22 Action Alert, ‘We need parliamentary and provincial hearings on Buy American deal’. NDP trade critic Peter Julian, one of a dozen MPs on the federal trade committee who received a copy of your letters to Van Loan, motioned the Commons Committee on International Trade (CIIT) to hold hearings into the deal. Read more »

ACTION ALERT: We need more than business input on trade and procurement agreements
Opening remarks to the Standing Committee on International Trade Re: Canada-U.S. Trade Relations , Scott Sinclair, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, March 16, 2010
Presentation to the Standing Committee on International Trade Re: Canada-U.S. Trade Relations, Teresa Healy, Canadian Labour Congress March 16, 2010
VIDEO: Stuart Trew, Trade Campaigner for The Council of Canadians, against trade lawyer, Chuck Gastle, on the Buy American deal and WTO procurement, Business News Network, February 11, 2010
MEDIA RELEASE: Council of Canadians and CUPE release leaked ‘Buy American’ agreement
MEDIA RELEASE: Walk away from ‘Buy American’ deal, urges Maude Barlow in open letter to premiers
OP-ED: Don't celebrate this deal, Ottawa Citizen, Maude Barlow and Stuart Trew, February 6, 2010
STATEMENT on public procurement and other resources »
Related blog posts:

• UPDATE: Why we leaked the ‘Buy American’ deal (and what the heck is the GPA, anyway?)
• Buy American, Trade Blog by Stuart Trew, Trade Campaigner at the Council of Canadians
• Trade and Buy American, Campaign Blog by Brent Patterson, Director of Campaigns and Communications at the Council of Canadians

Arctic: Moratorium Now!

The devastating BP spill off the Gulf of Mexico has awakened our collective consciousness to the serious risks of offshore drilling. Images of oil soaked wetlands, dying birds and animals and firsthand accounts of jobs and livelihoods lost are just the start of what will be long-lasting impacts of this environmental catastrophe.
With the discovery of 90 billion barrels of oil and 1,670 trillion cubic feet of natural gas under melting ice, the Arctic is increasingly being viewed as a final frontier for fossil fuel development.  More than 80 per cent of the oil and gas is found offshore. Read more about the Arctic here.
TAKE ACTION: Use our action alert to send an email demanding a moratorium on oil and gas exploration and drilling in the Arctic!
MEDIA: Lessons learned from BP disaster – Arctic moratorium needed, June 9, 2010
MEDIA: Arctic Ocean Foreign Ministers told leave it in the ground, March 29, 2010
Photo: The Council of Canadians holding a ''Leave it in the Ground" banner just 20 metres from the road where Foreign Ministers passed to get to the Arctic Summit in Chelsea, Quebec. See photostream »

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Council of Canadians at the United Nations

Just minutes ago the Council of Canadians hand-delivered an open letter to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at the Chateau Laurier in Ottawa outlining concerns with Prime Minister Stephen Harper's bid for Canada to have a seat on the UN Security Council during the 2011-2012 term. The letter points to the Harper government's refusal to recognize water as a human right, its opposition to the UN Declaration on Indigenous Rights, and its failure to commit to deep emission cuts to address climate change as reasons to deny Canada the seat.
To read the open letter, go here. To read our media release, go here.
A media release issued by the Bolivian government on May 6 states that, “On the morning of Friday, May 7th, President Evo Morales of Bolivia will personally present UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon with the conclusions of the World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of the Mother Earth, which was held in Cochabamba, Bolivia from April 20th to 22nd, 2010.” Read more »
The Peoples Agreement - The path to save Mother Earth from climate destruction, May 7, 2010
MEDIA: UN Secretary General to meet with Maude Barlow today, May 7, 2010
Photos: 1) United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon accepting open letter from Brent Patterson, Director of Campaigns and Communications 2) Council of Canadians chairperson Maude Barlow and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at the UN in New York.

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The climate justice movement grew dramatically in strength during the Copenhagen climate negotiations. While official talks failed to produce a strong agreement on deep emission cuts, the global mobilization for climate justice continues to grow.
To advance an agenda based on effective and just solutions to the climate crisis, the Bolivian, government hosted a Peoples’ Conference on Climate Change and Rights of Mother Earth April 19-22, 2010.  Alongside an open invitation to social movements, civil society and environmental organizations, academics and scientists, all 192 governments in the UN have been invited to attend and encouraged to listen to the voices of civil society. 
Read the Peoples Agreement from the World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth »
Read the Letter of the Social Movements Assembly at the World People's
Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth »

The Council of Canadians National Chairperson Maude Barlow and staff members Brent Patterson, Anil Naidoo and Andrea Harden-Donahue were in Cochabamba to host a workshop, issue regular posts including news updates, action alerts, media releases, blogs and more. See updates from Cochabamba »
From Copenhagen to Cochabamba, Ottawa Citizen, Andrea Harden-Donahue, April 26, 2010
Press release: Canadian government must be at historic climate conference in Bolivia, April 7, 2010
Maude Barlow was formally invited by the Bolivian government to speak in a main plenary panel at the historic Cochabamba conference. Maude joined Patrick Mooney, Timothy Byakola, Jose Bové, Alberto Gómez Flores, Hildebrando Vélez, and moderator Duttga Soumya in the Forests, food and water under climate change panel on April 20. Watch the video here.
VIDEO: Maude Barlow discusses glaciers, climate change and water in Cochabamba with Amy Goodman, Democracy Now! April 22, 2010

 

 
 

 
Photo: (L-R) - Brent Patterson (Director of Campaigns and Communications), Andrea Harden-Donahue (Energy Campaigner) , and Maude Barlow (National Chairperson) proudly holding the Council of Canadians' banner in Cochabamba on April 22, 2010.
 
 
Open letter to Prime Minister Harper, Cochabamba Climate Change Conference, April 7, 2010
Read more about climate justice »

WIN! NB Power sale scrapped!

The Globe and Mail reports this morning that, "New Brunswick Premier Shawn Graham has succumbed to overwhelming political pressure and cancelled a controversial $3.2-billion sale of New Brunswick Power generating stations to Hydro-Québec."
Graham said, "I am announcing this morning that we are no longer proceeding with discussions to finalize the energy agreement with Hydro-Québec."
CTV adds, "He delivered the unexpected announcement in the legislature today. ...The changes came after public outcry in New Brunswick and dissent from within Graham's Liberal caucus."
The Council of Canadians has opposed the sale of NB Power from the moment the proposed sale was announced in October. Read more here »
PHOTO: NB Power rally in Fredericton on March 20

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On the road in Nova Scotia for Green Jobs

Our Energy Campaigner, Andrea Harden-Donahue, visited Halifax mid-March to engage with local residents, activists and organizations, to initiate, through NSEN, an exciting and promising discussion on green job potential in Nova Scotia.
Read more about the events and a public event hosted by NSEN and the Council of Canadians, A Green Collar Economy: Innovative Ideas for Social Change in Nova Scotia here »

WIN! Bute hydro project delayed in British Columbia

Plutonic Power and GE will delay construction of their controversial private power hydro electric project for a year. Opponents of the so called “run of river” projects have targeted the development of Bute Inlet, pointing to the massive environmental damage the construction would cause and back door privatization of BC’s energy services.
“Don’t be fooled or confused; the run-of-river projects should more aptly be called ‘ruin-of-river’. They are not green, not public, and not for us .” – Maude Barlow, Georgia Straight
Read more »
 

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Green Decent and Public

The Council of Canadians, working with the Canadian Labour Congress, have produced Green Decent and Public, a report focused on the distinct opportunities of the public sector to play a prominent role in generating decent green jobs.
Green Decent Public focuses in particular on the opportunities in improving energy efficiency and rapidly expanding electricity produced from renewable resources. Read more »


 

Harper's assault on democracy

Author and Rabble.ca columnist Murray Dobbin details the harm Prime Minister Stephen Harper is doing to the political and social fabric of Canada in a new, hard-hitting essay commissioned by the Council of Canadians titled Harper’s Hitlist: Power, Process and the Assault on Democracy.
As Dobbin explains in the opening paragraphs of the essay, “This study is intended to examine the most serious violations of democracy committed by the prime minister and his government. Some are clearly more serious than others. But taken as a whole they add up to a dangerous undermining of our democratic traditions, institutions and precedents – and politics. These violations are not accidental, they are not incidental, and they are not oversights or simply the sign of an impatient government or ‘decisive’ leadership. They are a fundamental part of Harper’s iron-fisted determination to remake Canada, whether Canadians like it or not.”
Read the report here »

POLL: Environics, on behalf of the Council of Canadians, polled people about their feelings about proportional representation in February. Here are the results:

• 61% of Canadians support moving to a system of proportional representation in Parliament

• 36% said they were more supportive of proportional representation as a result of Prime Minister Harper’s recent prorogations

(These results represent the findings of a telephone survey conducted among a national random sample of 1,001 adults comprising 501 males and 500 females 18 years of age and older, living in Canada. The margin of error for a sample of this size is +/- 3.10%, 19 times out of 20.)
 

4/30/10

Enclosed is the Arctic Leaders' Summit declaration.

Cheers
David

 April 4-5 ALS
---------------------------

David Gordon
Executive Director
Pacific Environment
 

4-19-10

We call the world to regain our ancestral spiritual essence and raise community and universal awareness, practicing and generating:

-       Acknowledgement and respect for Mother Earth’s rights

-       Actions in daily community life, in balance and harmony with Mother  Earth

-       The recovery of our Mother Earth’s health for humanity, practicing the health principles and values of our ancestral peoples and putting into practice ancestral actions acknowledging and respecting our own forms of living, forms characteristic of the indigenous peoples, with respect to Mother Earth.

-       Daily ancestral actions recognizing each other as brothers and sisters and acknowledging the duty to take care of Mother Earth in order to live well.

We put forward the following Draft Universal Declaration of Mother Earth’s Rights, for the peoples, nations, States and governments in the whole world:Preamble

We, the peoples and nations of the world:

Considering that all and everyone is part of a system and a community that is interdependent and interrelated;

Gratefully acknowledging that Mother Earth gives us life, nourishes and teaches us and provides us with all that we need to live well

Convinced that Mother Earth is an indivisible community of diverse and interdependent beings with whom the peoples and nations of the world share a common destiny;

Recognizing that human beings under the capitalist system of predation, exploitation, abuse and pollution of Mother Earth have caused great destruction, degradation and disturbance of harmony with nature by putting at risk LIFE as we know it, as a result of phenomena such as climate change;

Convinced that in an interdependent system it is not possible to acknowledge the rights of the human part only without provoking imbalances in the whole system;

Noting that in order to guarantee human rights it is necessary to recognize and guarantee the rights of Mother Earth and reestablish harmony with nature;

The General Assembly proclaims this Universal Declaration of Mother Earth’s Rights as a common purpose that requires the endeavors of all peoples and nations of the world, regardless of their economic, social, religious and cultural rights must, so that both individuals and institutions, constantly being inspired by it, can promote, through teaching and creating awareness, respect for these rights and for them to guarantee, through measures and progressive mechanisms of national and international recognition, their universal and effective application, among peoples and nations of the Member States.

Article 1

Mother earth is a living system.

Mother Earth articulates everything to reproduce life. Mother Earth is an indivisible, self-regulated community of interrelated beings that are defined by their relationship with the system as a whole.

The fundamental rights of Mother Earth derive form the same source of existence and are inherent to all beings, and are therefore inalienable and uninfringeable.

All the components that integrate the Mother Earth system have the right to all fundamental rights acknowledged in this Declaration, without any kind of distinction, or discrimination such as organic and inorganic beings, species, origin, use for human beings, or any other condition.

Just as human beings have rights, all the components of Mother Earth also have rights that are specific for their condition and appropriate for their role and function within the systems in which they exist.

The rights of each part of the system are limited by the rights of other parts as far as what is necessary to maintain integrity, balance and the health of the system they share.

I

FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS OF MOTHER EARTH

Article 2

Right to life.

Article 3

Right to be respected, preserved, protected and looked after. 

Article 4

Right to the regeneration of its biocapacity and the continuation of its cycles, structures and vital processes. Right to the respect of its essential processes. Each organism, according to its nature, has a place and a fundamental role in nature that must be respected for the adequate functioning of the system.

Article 5

Right to maintain their identity and integrity as differentiated, self-regulated and interrelated entities.

Article 6

Right to water as source of life.

Article 7

Right to clean air.

Article 8

Right to integral health.

Article 9

Right not to be contaminated, to be free of pollution, toxic and radioactive waste, not to be genetically altered and modified in its structure threatening  its integrity or vital and healthy functioning.

Article 10

Right not to suffer destruction provoked by war and nuclear and chemical weapons.

Article 11

Right to life in harmony. Mother Earth and everyone that integrates her must live in balance with one another according to their nature.

Article 12

Right to fair repair for the infringements of human beings of her rights acknowledged in this Declaration.

 II

FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES AND OBLIGATIONS OF HUMAN BEINGS OWED TO MOTHER EARTH

Article 13

Human beings and States have the responsibility of preventing from infringement of this Declaration and must: 

1. promote the acknowledgement, application and execution of the rights and obligations established in this Declaration;
2. not affect the rights of Mother Earth through human actions;
3. ensure that the search of human well being contributes to the well being of Mother Earth, now and in the future;
4. elaboration and effective application of norms and laws for the defense, protection and preservation of Mother Earth;
5. protect, restore and preserve the integrity of ecological systems;
6. have the obligation not to cause damaging interruptions for the cycles, processes and vital ecological balances, that compromise genetic viability and continues survival of the species;
7. guarantee that the damages cause by human infringements of the fundamental rights in this Declaration can be rectified and that those responsible account for the restoration and preservation of the integrity and healthy functioning of the affected parts of Mother Earth as a whole;
8. allow and guarantee the right of people to defend the rights of Mother Earth and her different components.
9. guarantee the measure of precaution and restriction of activities that may lead to the extinction of species, destruction of ecosystems or permanent alteration of natural cycles;
10. promote production, protection and consumption systems in harmony with Mother Earth for living well;
11. guarantee peace to preserve the integrity of nature and balance with Mother Earth;
12. balanced, responsible management and no overexploitation of natural resources;
13. promote and receive integral education with regards to Mother Earth and how to live in accordance with this Declaration;
14. express acknowledgement of Mother Earth in accordance with their ways and means.
15. guarantee the well being of every living being, regardless of their species as well as the right to live free of torture, cruelty and/or punishment.

Article 14

Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted in a way as to derogate from the acknowledgement of other fundamental rights, liberties and duties of all beings or any being in particular.

4-2-10

3-13-10

Alaska Native Shareholders Lack Equality Under ANSCA

ANCSA The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act was enacted December 18, 1971.[1] Of approximately 76,526 Alaska Natives, only 567 Alaska Natives voted on the legislation and 56 of them voted against the Act. Very few Alaska Natives read and understood the provisions in ANCSA. Natives were viewed by Congress as unsophisticated as stockholders.

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