Kristen Villebrun and Wendy Bush hoped they wouldn't have to pray for Chedoke Creek, but four years after they first raised alarm about the water's condition, they were part of an Indigenous full moon ceremony to do just that. About 50 people showed up near Princess Point on the dark and frigid Monday evening for the monthly ceremony, which was particularly special as it focused on Chedoke Creek. The body of water that runs into Cootes Paradise had about 24 billion litres of sewage and storm water runoff leak into it due to a gate being left open.
Maude Barlow counters the prevailing atmosphere of pessimism and offers lessons of hope that she has learned from a lifetime of activism in the memoir Still Hopeful. Barlow has been involved in three major movements: second-wave feminism, the battle against free trade and globalization and the fight for water justice. She emphasizes that effective activism is about building a movement and finding like-minded people rather than making the goal the focus.
Water is essential to life and common to everything that lives. It is our most precious resource and, therefore, needs our protection. This is precisely what Maude Barlow, Canada’s renowned water advocate, has argued for years. In her most recent book, Whose Water Is It Anyway?, she states that a water secure and a water-just future depends upon our adoption of four principles: “1. Water is a human right and an issue of justice and charity; “2. water is a common heritage and public trust and, therefore, access to water must not be allowed to be decided by private, for profit interests; “3. water has rights beyond its service to humans and must be respected and protected for the ecosystem and other living beings; and “4. rather than being a source of conflict and division, water can be nature’s gift to teach us how we might learn to live more lightly on the planet and in harmony with one another.”
When I was teaching political science at Langara College in Vancouver, some of the most memorable events were the half dozen teleconferences Noam Chomsky did with my students. During one such discussion of international trade treaties in 2012, Chomsky singled out the work of Maude Barlow, then chair of the Council of Canadians, as being instrumental in defeating the proposed “corporate bill of rights” known as the Multilateral Agreement on Investment.
The Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS) is proud to announce it will award this year's honorary doctorate to Maude Barlow, a strong advocate for water resources in Canada and around the world. This distinction will be the first one awarded to her from a university in Québec. With an ongoing focus on solidarity, Ms. Barlow has led a remarkable career in service of the environment, social justice, and democracy. She embodies the key values of respect, openness, and inclusion advocated by INRS, as the environment and its protection are an important part of the institute's mission, both in research and training.
It was a simple conversation that sparked a student community to dig deeper and do more for the environment. Clara Prentice, a second year student at Brescia University College, recalls her extensive discussion with Canadian Environmentalist and school chancellor Maude Barlow last year. Through stories about Barlow's experience as the United Nation's first senior adviser on water issues, Prentice was convinced she and her fellow classmates could do more for the environment, because while they are generations apart, the group of women share the same desire to at least leave this earth as they found it, if better isn't possible.
