Thursday, April 1 7 p.m.
Maude Barlow, national chairperson of the Council of Canadians; founder of the Blue Planet Project, an international movement to protect the world’s fresh water
Is water a market commodity to be put on the open market for sale, like running shoes, or is it a public trust and a human right? On one side of the debate are the World Bank, many First World governments, and large water transnationals, from private utilities Suez and Veolia to Coca-Cola and Nestlé. On the other side, a global water justice movement of people and communities determined to take back control of life-giving local water sources. Renowned water activist Maude Barlow will share her experiences at the heart of this debate.
Barlow chairs the board of the Washington, D.C.-based Food and Water Watch and is a councilor with the Hamburg-based World Future Council. In 2008, she was named senior advisor on water to the president of the United Nations General Assembly. A long-term activist on trade and justice issues, Barlow has received numerous awards, including the 2005 Right Livelihood Award (known as the Alternative Nobel), and the 2008 Canadian Environment Award. She has authored or co-authored16 books, including the recently published Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle for the Right to Water.
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