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From the Ottawa Citizen:
People who target the environmental movement have a habit of pulling out an old Jonestown reference about drinking the so-called Kool-Aid. It’s a metaphor for blind attachment to a belief system, which Maude Barlow has heard more than once.
After decades of speaking out and putting her thoughts on paper, activist, author and national chairwoman of the Council of Canadians, Barlow has been accused of guzzling a few gallons of the stuff. But there’s one thing she’d like to remind those people who see her as an anti-corporate mouthpiece: You need water to make Kool-Aid, and right now, the world’s most precious resource for sustaining life is under the biggest threat in human history.
“We are running out of clean water,’‘ the Ottawa resident says. “It sounds unbelievable, especially for a Canadian, but even in this country, we’re looking at a water crisis.’‘
Barlow points to the pollution and potential death of the Great Lakes, the thirst of the Alberta oilsands, which consume millions of gallons of clean water to separate oil from sand, and the continuing trend toward the corporatization of the water table and natural aquifers.
“To those who want to privatize water for profit, I am a complete nutbar,’‘ says Barlow. “But I don’t care what people call me. This is an essential fight, and I have no plans on backing down. It’s about the sustainability of life.’‘
This spring, while touring the globe with her message of water awareness and a new movie Water on the Table, Barlow said she’s never been so busy. The travel was grinding, but she recognized she’s become the go-to gal on water issues.
“It’s sort of like Ghostbusters. Who you gonna call?’‘ said Barlow, author of the bestselling Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle for the Right to Water, and Blue Gold: The Battle Against Corporate Theft of the World’s Water.
“I think the water crisis is about five years behind the climate crisis in terms of public awareness, but it’s changing because we’re starting to see the effects of water shortages right now. Look at Australia,’‘ she said, pointing to the unprecedented rationing measures taken there in the wake of widespread drought.
“You’re not allowed to turn the tap on in Southern Australia without capturing the water. It’s not allowed to go down the drain. It has to be captured for secondary use.
“All these things I predicted 15 years ago are happening right now.’‘
Barlow isn’t just talking about depletion and pollution. She’s talking about widespread human casualties: People will die of thirst the world over as corporations take control of an essential resource, and only the rich will have the cash to afford potable water.
As Water on the Table documents, most people don’t argue the scarcity point of Barlow’s message; they have a hard time with the notion of “water as a human right’‘ — the ultimate aim of Barlow’s activism.
“Water is essential for human beings to survive,” she said. “It’s as important as clean air. It must be protected and, in order to do that, it has to be declared a human right.’‘
The film, directed by Liz Marshall, explores this central dilemma through several pairs of eyes.
For Barlow, it’s about human equity. For people such as National Post editor and columnist Terence Corcoran, who is also interviewed in the film, it’s about maintaining a capitalist model of resources.
Corcoran says human beings have always exploited Earth’s resources. It’s what we do, and water is the same as any other commodity, no different from fossil fuels or minerals.
Corcoran accuses Barlow of giving a “religious’‘ fervour to her cause that makes it impractical, and rhetorically prickly, but Barlow doesn’t get flustered by criticism about the moral dimensions of water rights and the accusation she wants to put us all back in caves.
“I don’t want us to go back to caves. But if we could all cut our consumption in half, we’d be making a significant change in the way we live … and the fresh water available to us in the future,’‘ she said. “I have no problem with an economic engine, but not one that’s actually an essential part of a living ecosystem.’‘
Barlow’s message has not changed over the years. She’s still dealing with the same demon that dons the dollar-sign face, but after decades in the trenches, she’s starting to see signs of victory.
“Sales of bottled water have dropped significantly, by about nine per cent … and Nestlé noticed,’‘ she says.
“I’m also being invited to sit at the table with industry and the corporate decision makers. That’s new for me, and very encouraging, because I’m not on the fringes anymore.’‘
With a place at the power table, Barlow hopes to make real progress in her fight to have water declared a human right, and for the creation of a worldwide environmental protection agency that has the teeth and the mandate to safeguard our species, and all life.
“Right now, there is no one body that can speak for the planet. We’re in the process of drafting a (United Nations) resolution to protect the rights of Mother Earth — one that’s as significant as the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights,.
“The ideas are really inseparable, because, without a habitable planet, the rest is redundant.’‘