Hello from snowy Vienna. We have had a wonderful day. Over 300 people and a lot of media attended this important conference today. People in Europe have been fighting water privatizations for over a decade and have started a process of reversal, leading to the remunicipalization of many water services, including some major cities, such as Paris.

But in a classic example of what Naomi Klein calls the shock doctrine, the European Commission and the European Central Bank are using the financial crisis to promote an “austerity” program that includes privatization of water services in a number of countries. Already, water prices have been dramatically raised in some cities, leading to water service cut offs and even evictions.

The 2012 federal budget, Economic Action Plan 2012: Our plan for jobs, growth and long-term prosperity (EAP 2012), was released late yesterday afternoon. The details of how the various cuts will impact public service jobs and federal departments will be revealed over the coming months.

Yesterday, the Council of Canadians landed a large toy F-35 fighter jet on Parliament Hill to demand that the federal government completely back out of plans to purchase the fighter jets and invest needed funding in critical water services. In the Alternative Federal Budget, the Council of Canadians demands that the government uphold their legal obligation to the human right to water by investing $9.336 billion in water and wastewater infrastructure, drinking water on First Nation reserves, protecting the Great Lakes and addressing other gaps in water protection.

The Canadian arm of the Red Cross, an international aid organization, announced on Wednesday that they would step in and provide short-term help to the First Nation community of Attawapiskat in Northern Ontario.

About a month ago, Chief Theresa Spence of the community declared a state of an emergency and band leaders have asked the federal government to evacuate the community before the cold weather worsens.