When asked about their investments in private Chilean water utilities, the Ontario Teachers' Pension told the Canadian Press, Chile was a democratic country. Beside the fact that by that measure most of the world's environmentally hazardous projects or developments that violate human rights are open for OTPP investments, there is nothing democratic about water privatization in Chile. The gutting of public services during the Pinochet years paved the way for privatization down the road. In the late 1990s, subsequent governments carried this legacy forward at a time when there was tremendous pressure from Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank to privatize public services as a loan condition.

New York City -- In an impassioned speech to the UN General Assembly today, Bolivian Ambassador to the UN, Pablo Salon highlighted the dire situation of the global water crisis by snapping his fingers three times to indicate that a child dies every three and a half seconds from drinking dirty water. He urged the world take action by voting in favour of a resolution presented by Bolivia and co-sponsored by 35 states calling on the UN General Assembly to recognize water as a human right.

I have just completed a week in Brussels with colleagues Stuart Trew, the Council of Canadians trade campaigner, Brent Patterson, CoC director of campaigns and communications, Larry Brown from the National Union of Public and General Employees and Scott Sinclair from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. We are here as part of a campaign against the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA). Round four of the negotiations, expected to conclude next spring, are underway. We have been meeting with members of the European Parliament and European civil society organizations to voice our concerns about a trade deal that isn't really about trade, but about granting greater rights to corporations in both Europe and Canada.

I have been in Brussels this week as part of a delegation to voice concerns about the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement. More on that soon

Being in Brussels has also allowed the Council of Canadians to work with European allies on an important campaign to secure European support for the right to water. At the end of the month the UN General Assembly will consider a historic resolution to have drinking water and sanitation declared human rights. This has been the result of hard work on the part of a global water justice movement and will be a first step towards achieving water justice for over a billion people without access to clean safe drinking water and over two billion without access to sanitation.

It has largely gone unnoticed by the media in Alberta, but yesterday was the deadline for submissions to Alberta Environment regarding an application by the Eastern Irrigation District to have its water licence amended to include purposes other than irrigation. In other words, the EID would like to lift restrictions on the use of its water licence to make it easier to sell rights to industrial and commercial users in Southern Alberta’s burgeoning water market.

As Stephen Harper attempts to position himself as a champion of maternal and infant health, the Council of Canadians joins the Grassy Narrows and Wabaseemoong First Nations in denouncing the long term health impacts of mercury poisoning in Northwestern Ontario which have passed from one generation to another as a result of pregnant mothers eating contaminated fish.

Happy World Water Day!

World Water Day celebrations kicked off on Sunday in Vancouver with an award ceremony organized by CUPE and the local Vancouver/Burnaby Council of Canadians chapter for water heroes and rogues. The New Westminster School Board received a "Tappie" award for its recent ban on bottled water which includes an educational component to teach children about public water. Trustee Laurie Watt, who received the award on behalf of the board praised Council of Canadians chapter activist Andrew Murray and the local chapters whose efforts led to the victory.

The Council of Canadians hosted a roundtable meeting in Edmonton today bringing over a dozen Alberta environmental, social justice, labour and First Nations groups together to discuss the threat of water markets in Alberta. Among them were representatives of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, Public Interest Alberta, Sierra Club, Treaty 8 First Nations, CUPE Alberta, Treaty 6 First Nations, the Environmental Law Centre, the Parkland Institute and members of landowner and surface rights groups.

The Harper government's claim that it plans to make maternal health a G8 priority is at odds with its efforts to prevent water from being recognized as a human right in international law and its promotion of water privatization in Canada and around the world. Good health begins with access to clean, safe drinking water and women are disproportionately affected when governments fail to provide adequate water and sanitation services. 

A report produced by the National Network on Environments and Women's Health in collaboration with the Council of Canadians and other groups called Women and Water in Canada highlights the impacts of water privatization on women. 

The Ontario legislature will be debating Bill 237 on Thursday February 18. If passed, this bill would severely undermine the ability of municipalities to maintain public control over water and wastewater infrastructure.

Water and waste water services would be operated by corporations run by unelected boards of directors who would report to a centralized provincial water board that would be unaccountable to the public. All costs for operations, upgrades and maintenance would be downloaded to Ontario users who will see steep rate hikes as a result of full cost recovery measures promoted by this bill. The infrastructure deficit in Ontario is currently estimated at $37 billion over 15 years.