Across Canada, people are taking a stand in support of public water and against the privatization of our water resources. It is time to unite and get rid of bottled water.

We would love for you to join the Coalition for Bottled Water Free Communities (made up of the Canadian Federation of Students, the Sierra Youth Coalition, the Council of Canadians, the Canadian Union of Public Employees and the Polaris Institute) in the countdown to Canada's third Bottled Water Free Day! On March 15, 2012, campuses and communities across Canada will be mobilizing to take action to kick the bottle and back the tap! We want you to be a part of it!

From Brazilian anti-dam activists to Newfoundlanders fighting to protect their lake from being turned into a toxic dumpsite, water activists from around the globe are cheering the fact that Vale has been selected as the recipient for the 2012 Public Eye Award for being the worst company of the year.

The company notorious for building a massive $52 billion dam complex in the Amazon Rainforest promising to forcefully relocate 40,000 people and destroy the vital Xingu river ecosystem, earned top spot with 25,042 votes. Canadians had their own reasons for voting for Vale.

Last weekend in Barcelona, the Council of Canadians participated in a gathering of more than 90 activists involved in planning the alternative world water forum (Forum Alternatif Mondial de l’Eau) to take place in Marseilles on March 14 to 17. The FAME is a counter-summit taking place in opposition to the 6th World Water Forum -- a corporate trade show held every three years to give corporations direct access to ministers, heads of state and high-level government officials in order to influence water policy.

The New York Department of Environmental Conservation (NY DEC) is poised to decide whether to begin issuing permits for hydraulic fracturing or "fracking" within the state of New York. Fracking is a controversial drilling process used to extract natural gas from shale, coal beds and "tight sands" with vertical and horizontal drilling. Sand, water and chemicals are blasted at high pressure to fracture rock where natural gas is trapped. Communities all over Canada, the U.S. and other countries are fighting against fracking because it pollutes water and harms people's health.

Bruce Power will not be able to ship 16 radioactive steam generators until they renew their permit with the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC).

A protest was held at the Canadian embassy in El Salvador yesterday to commemorate the two-year anniversary of the assassination of Ramiro Rivera and Dora Sorto, two environmental advocates from Cabanas El Salvador who were active in the campaign against the El Dorado mine of the Canadian company Pacific Rim.

The embassy refused to meet with representatives from the Mesa Nacional frente la Mineria Metalica to hear concerns and receive a letter demanding an end to free trade negotiations between Canada and El Salvador that would further entrench the rights of mining companies.

The Council of Canadians is pleased to learn that the Town of Ajax has become a Blue Community by passing a resolution banning bottled water, recognizing water as a human right and promoting publicly owned and operated water and wastewater systems.

Ajax is the fourth community in Canada and second in Ontario to join the Blue Communities Project launched by the Council of Canadians and Canadian Union of Public Employees.

The community adopted the resolutions after receiving a letter from 13-year-old water warrior, Robyn Hamlyn, who was inspired to take action after seeing the film Blue Gold, featuring the work of Council of Canadians chairperson Maude Barlow.

The Council of Canadians was invited on Tuesday to speak at an event in Ottawa about the housing crisis in Attawapiskat organized by Kairos and Centretown United.

While I spoke about the water crisis as a water campaigner, I recognize that Attawapiskat is a much larger issue in which the lack of access to water and sanitation only highlight the depth of the injustice faced by the community for decades. There is nothing natural about poverty. The housing crisis in Attawapiskat is a not an accident or an isolated incident. Attawapiskat is a natural outcome of Canada's violent colonial past and racist present.

To drive home the message that water-related impacts are key to how climate change is experienced by communities around the world, South African NGOs Umphilo waManzi and Capetown Environmental Monitoring Group (EMG) hosted a "water reality tour" on Thursday, December 1. Discussions were led by people active in the sector at both grassroots and policy levels. The tour showcased experiences of what communities have done to secure their water rights in South Africa's urban and rural areas within the context of the challenges posed by climate change.

On Tuesday, Environmental Commissioner of Ontario (ECO) Gord Miller released his 2010/11 annual report entitled Engaging Solutions. The ECO report begins by framing the discussion with commons and public trust principles and examines pressing issues including threats to the Great Lakes and the emerging issue of hydraulic fracturing or fracking in Ontario.

Commons and public trust principles in the Environmental Bill of Rights

The Environmental Commissioner of Ontario is an independent officer of the Legislative Assembly and reports on the government's compliance to the Environmental Bill of Rights (ERB).