It's “the most ambitious plan of its kind in history,” boasts Canada's international trade minister Ed Fast, as Conservative cabinet ministers hit cities across the country today to market Canada's impending free trade deal with Europe. Media declared the push as a "political war."

And yet the public knows almost nothing about the secret negotiations -- except that they are in their final stages, to be completed this year. 

On Friday, I posed questions that I hoped to find answers to through discussions related to the thematic social forum here in Porto Alegre. I wouldn't presume that the answers I've come up with are definitive, and truthfully I just have more questions now, but I wanted to offer these "observations from Brazil" in the hope that it helps us navigate Rio+20:

1. What could be the implications of Rio+20 on our campaigns related to the commons, the human right to water and sanitation, the rights of nature and climate justice approaches to the climate crisis?

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.

On Nov. 19, citizens of Abbotsford, British Columbia will go to the polls not only to vote for a mayor and city councillors but they will also vote on whether Abbotsford will privatize its water system.

The public referendum will ask voters whether they are in favour of the City of Abbotsford "entering into a partnering agreement with a private sector partner that will design, build, partially finance and operate a water supply and distribution system from Stave Lake for up to thirty (30) years." To read the full referendum question, click here.

Victoria, the capital city of British Columbia, is poised to become Canada's next Blue Community.

On Thursday, June 16, 2011, City Councillor Marianne Alto introduced a Blue Communities resolution to the Committee of the Whole. Since the Committee recommended approval, city council will vote on the resolution on Thursday, June 23.

I just returned from a weekend at the FAME (Forum Alternatif Mondial de L'eau) preparatory meeting in Brussels. Over 50 activists gathered to share experiences and organize an alternative forum to the 6th World Water Forum in Marseille, France in March 2012. This was the fourth planning meeting for FAME with several more leading up to the alternative forum to the 6th World Water Forum.