At about 11:00 am EST this morning, the United Nations General Assembly voted to recognize the right to water and sanitation. The resolution passed overwhelmingly. The unofficial vote count was 124 yes, 42 abstentions, 0 no. Canada abstained. Council of Canadians chairperson Maude Barlow, Blue Planet Project organizer Anil Naidoo, and national water campaigner Meera Karunananthan were at the General Assembly session for the historic vote. More on this to come shortly. For more...

The Union leader who busted the "agents provocateurs" operation at the Montebello summit has taken new steps to unmask the men who gave the orders. The Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union (CEP) will argue a motion Monday, July 26, 2010, to give union president Dave Coles standing at the Quebec Police Ethics Committee. The Committee is investigating the police operation at the "Security and Prosperity Partnership" summit at Montebello, Québec in 2007. During the SPP summit, Coles...

List of the Associations taking legal action against the Petition. List of the Associations taking legal action against the Petition. John Allan, on behalf of the Council of Forest Industries Pierre Gratton, on behalf of the Mining Association of British Columbia. Philip Hochstein, on behalf of the Independent Contractors and Business Association Wayne Hoskins, on behalf of the Western Convenience Stores Association Rick Jeffery, on behalf of Coast Forest Products Association John R....

OTTAWA –Announcements of the closure of the Elk Falls mill, near Campbell River, BC, by Catalyst Paper and of the Kelowna packaging mill by Smurfit-Stone yesterday will add about 400 jobs to the list of casualties resulting from the inaction of the federal government in regards to the forestry crisis. “How many more communities should be hard hit before the federal government takes the issue seriously?” wonders Dave Coles, President of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union....

As you read this, the federal government is making a concerted effort to permanently shape Canada's digital future without your input. The policy being developed right now will change Canada forever. Issues on the table include media ownership, Internet openness, broadband access, cellphone rates and competition, support for Canadian culture and much more. Industry Minister Tony Clement, at a major conference last month with business and government leaders, announced a 60-day...

After years of hard work, there has been a breakthrough in our right to water work at the United Nations. Council of Canadians chairperson Maude Barlow and Blue Planet Project organizer Anil Naidoo have just returned from New York City where they briefed the G77 on water. While they were there, the Bolivian ambassador to the UN introduced a resolution on the right to water which many countries are prepared to back. The vote will take place on June 23. Unfortunately, Canada appears to be...

As the Harper government recklessly spends more than $1 billion on the three-day G8 and G20 summits in Huntsville and Toronto, Ontario, momentum is building for thousands of people to come together and say “no” to the summits’ undemocratic and illegitimate agendas. The Council of Canadians has helped plan and organize “The People’s Summit,” where community organizers, activists, non-governmental organizations, independent media, workers, impacted communities, and artists...

OTTAWA -- Canada’s largest media union is considering a challenge to the sale of Canwest’s newspapers to an ad hoc committee of bondholders, mostly based in the USA. “We believe this sale will require a review under the Investment Canada Act,” said Peter Murdoch, Vice-President, Media, for Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada. “Parliament should be acting now to ensure these newspapers remain under Canadian control and ownership. “And even if the government chooses to...

This morning’s breaking news that Blair Lekstrom – the Minister of Energy and Mines - has resigned from Cabinet and the BC Liberal Caucus over the HST, is a perfect opportunity to increase the pressure on other vulnerable Liberal MLAs. Back in late April we asked you to take a moment and use twitter to push a vulnerable BC Liberal MLA to stand up to the HST and vote against the legislation to bring in this new tax. If only seven Liberal MLAs change their minds, this odious tax will no longer...

HALIFAX – Some 3,000 members of Canada’s largest telecommunications union have voted to reject a tentative collective agreement with Bell Aliant, by a margin of 65%. The Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union’s Atlantic Communications Council and Bell Aliant had reached the agreement in late April, and members had been holding ratification meetings over the past few weeks in the four Atlantic provinces. “The members have spoken and we respect their decision,”...

BC Books Online is collaboration between publishers and libraries to purchase electronic rights to a collection of non-fiction books by BC publishers and to make them accessible through public, school, and post-secondary libraries. It is the first time ever that publishers and libraries have come together with the objective to deliver digital content to an entire province.*** See:Your Book's Never out at This Library I wouldn't give to much credit to Campbell's supposed initiative, as this...

OTTAWA – The president of Canada’s largest telecommunications union says that to news reports that Industry Minister Tony Clement plans to ease restriction on foreign investment in the Telco sector are a “one-sided sell out of Canadian interests.”“Besides ignoring the Canadian ownership requirements of the Telecommunications Act, the discussion around foreign ownership in Canada’s Telco sector is totally focused on what works for big business,” says Dave Coles, president of the Communications,...