Amidst reports of human rights violations and massive public opposition to the environmentally destructive operations of Barrick Gold around the world, it is shocking that the Canadian Museum of Nature would undertake a partnership with the notorious multinational mining company.

The Canadian Museum of Nature is a largely publicly funded institution that states the following about its objectives: The purpose of the Canadian Museum of Nature is to give Canadians an opportunity of discovering and understanding the natural world and how to live in balance with it.

The 2012 federal budget is a gift to the mining industry and a curse on the environment.

With major growth expected in the mining and energy sector, proposed amendments to environmental regulation will allow companies to skip steps and fast-track approval and permitting processes.

The so-called “one project, one review” measure aims to bypass current environmental assessment, which arguably leaves much to be desired, and download responsibilities to ill-equipped provincial governments or do away with them altogether.

As a wealthy country with a modest population of 35 million and vast supplies of freshwater in many parts of the land, one would expect Canada to play a leading role in championing the protection of water resources and ensuring optimal water and sanitation services for all.

Yet for decades Canada has stood in the way of international recognition of water and sanitation as a human right. Now that it has been recognized since 2010 through resolutions at the UN General Assembly and Human Rights Council, Canada is attempting to rewrite history by eliminating all references to the resolutions in international documents including the Rio+20 negotiating text which is to frame the discussions at the World Summit on Sustainable Development next June.

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.

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.

For decades, the industries that thrive on destroying the planet have played a cat and mouse game with the environmental movement. We expose their bad practices and build public opposition, they co-opt our language and attempt to neutralize public opinion by creating confusion.