A message from Maude Barlow for World Water Day March 22 PART 1. Dear friends, today is World Water Day and a time to reflect on the gift of water that sustains all life on Earth. While many have access to clean safe drinking water, millions do not. We must come together this World Water Day to commit to a new relationship with water. We must conserve it, restore watersheds, protect source water from pollution – pollution must be viewed as a criminal act – and share it more equitably for all humans, for the future and for other species as well.

Maude Barlow Message PART 2. Modern humans see water as a great big resource for our pleasure, convenience and profit and not as the essential element of a living ecosystem that gives us all life – so we pollute it. We dump an amount of industrial and human waste into the watersheds every year equivalent to the combined weight of all humanity. We pump water from watersheds and rivers into mega cities where, if they are anywhere near the ocean, it is then dumped as waste – a major cause of rising oceans. We grow crops with flood irrigation in deserts. We poison water with mining, nuclear, fracking and tar sands production. We let water drain away from ancient rusting pipes because we have “run out of money” for public infrastructure.

Maude Barlow Message PART 3. The United Nations has recognized water and sanitation as a human right, which means that every government must now come up with a plan of action based on the “Obligation to Protect, Respect, and Fulfill” this right. We expect no less from the Harper government. The United Nations must also turn its attention to water conservation and watershed restoration, and to finding ways to make water a means of peace, not conflict.

Maude Barlow Message PART 4. We must also declare water to be a common heritage, a public trust and a public service, and we need to support the government of Bolivia in its new move to declare that water must be protected as a public right and not allowed to be delivered on a for-profit basis by the private sector. We need water for life. Water can teach us how to live in harmony with one another and more lightly on this Earth if we have eyes to see and ears to hear. - Maude Barlow National Chairperson, The Council of Canadians. March 22, 2011. To learn more about the Council of Canadians please go to http://www.canadians.org Sign up to receive Council of Canadians e-Newsletters and Action Alerts -- inquiries@canadians.org

After the US Mid-term Elections: Over the last year, the major US media have been providing extensive airtime for "Tea Party" ideology - libertarian, individualistic, "I" consciousness. This has slowed progress on many issues in the US that could benefit the common good: universal healthcare, finance reform, immigration, green energy and jobs. Now is a crucial moment when "WE" consciousness and our WE Campaign can make a big difference by connecting and gathering the support of the tens of millions in the U.S. and elsewhere who share values of peace, social justice, environmental stewardship, holistic health and already have "WE" consciousness. Your participation and support now can help unite and amplify their voices. Please join us!

WE Campaign on Peace Day Radio! To hear it, go to BlogTalkRadio at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/peaceportal/blog/2010/07 Many thanks to our WE Partners Bill McCarthy (Unity Foundation) and Stephen Fantl (PeaceDay Global Broadcast) for featuring the WE Campaign on their Peace Day Radio Broadcast July 21st. The show celebrated the 2-month countdown to the International Day of Peace Sept. 21st.

What does WE mean to me? Each photo at the top of http://www.WE.net shows part of what WE includes in our new, expansive definition. For me, WE is not just people of different genders, ages and ethnic groups, WE also includes other forms of life (like plants) and even eco-systems like mountains, lakes and oceans. And I believe this new WE consciousness is needed for us to have a healthy sustainable civilization and planet. Beyond that consciousness, I think of WE also as representing all who work to make change for the common good - from individuals in their communities to the global social and environmental movements. Connecting and amplifying the impact of these "agents of change" is the mission of WE!