MAUDE BARLOW SPEAKS IN GUELPH

Last evening I heard Maude Barlow speak live for the first time. She is indeed an excellent speaker and her message was all about the politics and economics of water. I bought a copy of her latest book titled Blue Future. She spoke in Guelph, Ontario at a Church called Hope House. She mentioned two recent sucesses for both local citizens and the Council of Canadians namely the Stop 41 Landfill and the just accomplished backing down of Nestle Canada in Hillsburgh, Ontario. Nestle had been stickhandling sucessfully with the Ontario Ministry of the Environment to avoid water taking restrictions during droughts. Both the Wellington Water Watchers and the Council of Canadians stepped up and appealed another private deal between industry and the M.O.E.. The Environmental Review Tribunal agreed that it wasn't a deal in the public interest hence Nestle now have to cut back on their groundwater extraction during droughts and dry spells.

Maude also discussed the attempted privatization of water by corporations around the world. Fortunately with much hard work the United Nations have declared water a basic human right. Canada to its' shame did not support this endeavour. Maude had many harsh words for the current Canadian government led by Stephen Harper and suggested that Canada's aboriginal peoples will benefit from this U.N. declaration.