WORD OUT! The Blog to Build a New Society

Last week I received a four page letter from Maude Barlow, National Chairperson for the Council of Canadians. I paid a lot of attention to it because my 12 year old son asked me what it was about, then asked me to read it aloud. I didn't really want to because this is what it said.

They're coming to take our water...
Dear Concerned Friend (that would be me),
There is nothing more important that that miraculous liquid which makes all life possible - fresh water. But right now Canada's water - our water - is under terrible threat.

The letter went on to describe these threats - years of proposed water exports that have only just managed to be overturned. In the 1990's Nova Group of Sault Ste. Marie proposed to sell millions of litres from Lake Superior to Asia and Newfoundland proposed a plan to export 52 billion litres of water a year. In 2006, the Washington based Global Water and Energy Strategy Team (GWEST) proposed a freshwater pipeline from Manitoba to Texas; in 2007 business members and politicians from US, Canada and Mexico met in Calgary to discuss bulk water sales and this summer, the Fraser Institute released a report urging bulk water exports. You can read more at the Council of Canadians Water Campaign page.

Canada does not have a National Water Policy. Without this, companies can continue to approach the provincial governments to make deals to buy our water. Why does this matter?

Under the rules of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), once we begin exports, other foreign investors will be entitled to the same favourable treatment as Canadian investors. If our government tries to pass a law prohibiting these exports, corporations can sue our government for loss of business. If even one province allows water exports, trade rules say every province must allow them - with no limits on quantities.

But it matters on an even larger scale. Is water a commodity to be bought and sold or is it something larger, part of our planetary commons?

In this video, Maude Barlow explains what she thinks about water.

Should Canada refuse to export water? Should we create a National Policy that controls water exports? Can water fall into the same category as our forestry resources? Our fish, our wheat?

What do you think? Let us know in the feedback section below.

In The Guardian this week (via Post Carbon Institute) Micah White raises an interesting and alarming question - by reducing activism to online petitions, is "clicktivism" undermining more conventional activist activities? Comparing clicktivists to sophisticated marketers, White suggests that through clicktivism, political engagement becomes devoid of substance.

In promoting the illusion that surfing the web can change the world, clicktivism is to activism as McDonalds is to a slow-cooked meal. It may look like food, but the life-giving nutrients are long gone.

I have long shared White's concerns. While it's easy to be excited when you hear that millions of people have raised their (virtual) voices in support of the oceans or to fight climate change, I worry that this type of feel-good armchair activism comes to be seen as a substitute for actually taking it to the streets. If an issue doesn't concern you enough to get you out of your comfortable chair, then perhaps it's time to re-examine your level of commitment.

White is arguing against what he calls "the marketisation of social change". I think that digital activism is only one small facet of this important issue. Under the same umbrella we find companies like Wal-Mart rebranding themselves as a model of corporate sustainability, even as they continue to steamroll local economies and import billions of dollars worth of goods from Chinese factories. We find "environmentally-friendly" SUV's, "organic" personal care products laden with toxic chemicals, and other oxymorons. We find a wave of consumers convinced that they can buy themselves out of our environmental crisis by "shopping green", having apparently missed the memo that overconsumption is what's threatening the planet.

Let's hear it for White's call for a new breed of activist - one who will deliver a "passionate, ideological and total critique of consumer society". In the meantime however, I am grappling with the deep irony that I originally found, and shared, his commentary on digital activism on, you guessed it, Facebook.

How about lobbying your local senator? The Energy Action Coalition; The Hub of the Youth Climate Movement, is calling on young people across the country to speak to senators in their states about the US Senate decision last week not to act on climate protection legislation. The reason for this decision, according to the Energy Action Coalition, is because "Big Oil and Dirty Coal are funding their political campaigns." What are your thoughts about this?

Arielle Klagsburn, a student from St. Louis, Missouri, asked her senator about her reasons for that decision. Her experience is captured in the Youtube video below.

Political activism is not for the faint of heart, but if you have the stomach for it, you could have a very interesting August. Let us know if you’ve had a chance to speak to your senator and what they had to say in our feedback section below.

On June 26th, people around the world are going to the beach. They are not going just to soak up the sun, rub their toes through the sand, listen to the calming wash of waves on the shore. They are going to hold hands, and not just with their sweetie for a romantic stroll along the waves.

Hands Across the Sand is an international movement to oppose offshore oil drilling and champion clean energy and renewables. It is made of people of all walks of life and crosses political affiliations.

Hands Across the Sand are calling on people around the world to stage a simple and peaceful action.

* Go to your beach on June 26 at 11 AM in your time zone.
* Form lines in the sand and at 12:00, join hands.

The image is powerful, the message is simple. NO to Offshore Oil Drilling, YES to Clean Energy.

Hands Across the Sand started February 13, 2010 in Florida, two months
before the Deepwater Horizon explosion. Thousands of Floridians representing 60 towns and cities and over 90 beaches joined hands to protest the efforts by the Florida Legislature and the US Congress to lift the ban on oil drilling in the near and off shores of Florida. Florida’s Hands Across The Sand event was the largest gathering in the history of Florida united against oil drilling. Thousands joined hands from Jacksonville to Miami Beach and Key West to Pensacola Beach, each against oil drilling in Florida’s waters.

Here is a video from Surf Rider Foundation who were part of the February 13th event.

To register or find an event near you go to Hands Across the Sand.com

So many of us at New Society Publishers are able to cycle to work everyday that we tend to get a bit lackadaisical about it - even forgetting to blog about Bike to Work Week (Eek! Sorry about that). But all is not lost, we still have today!

A report compiled by the City of Vancouver Standing Committee on Transportation and Traffic in February 2009 used Statistics Canada census data to compare the number to people in Canada who commuted to work by bike for the years 1996 and 2006 across Canada. Cycling to work rose by an astounding 0.2 % from 1.1 % in 1996 to to 1.3 % in 2006. Oh why did I ever bother to look for those stats? How depressing.

As seasoned cyclists and cycling activists, we can sometimes lose sight of what drew us to cycling in the first place and feel jaded by reading one too many official reports. Too often we take it all for granted - the smooth ride, the wind in our faces, the clean air, the freedom of movement. We are more interested in getting there than enjoying the ride.

This sweet video of “Madeline”, set to punk rock band Shonen Knife’s Cycling is Fun, reminds me of the joy, excitement and freedom of getting on your bike and getting going!! Madeline is learning to ride without training wheels. A remarkable feat, made all the more notable when you see that she and the boy on the other bike (a brother?) are the only two wheeled vehicles in sight on the shady suburban avenue where they ride.

Thanks Madeline for reminding us, "Cycling is Fun!" Maybe if more of us returned to those happy memories of our first days on our bike, the official stats will be more encouraging next census!