Prairie Water : Sovereignty, Scarcity and Conservation

June 4, 2025 – 7 pm

Join the The Council of Canadians Edmonton Chapter for our June 4 webinar on threats to our prairie water, existing legal protections and opportunities to better conserve it.

Click to Register

The Council of Canadians Edmonton Chapter will present an Expert Panel Webinar on prairie water with speakers from hydrology, law, agriculture and biological. Questions we hope to answer include:

  • What are the current internal threats to Canadian prairie water? Fresh water in Canada’s Prairie Provinces is under serious threat from climate change and drought, source depletion, industrial growth, hydroelectric dams, outdated policies, agreements and laws, and mismanagement.
  • What tools do Canadians have to confront threats to our water? Laws, agreements and treaties are available to us e.g. The Alberta Water Act currently bans bulk water export. Can Trump overrule these?
  • Can we transform the perceived threats to our water into opportunities to better conserve what we have? What current practices need attention to achieve that? For example, storage and diversion do not solve the problems of waste and source protection.

SPEAKERS AND TOPICS

Dr. Tricia Stadnyk –  P.Eng. Canada Research Chair Tier II (Hydrologic Modelling) Professor, Schulich School of Engineering (Civil) & Faculty of Arts (Geography) University of Calgary | Treaty 7
Topic – Canada’s water security for the 21st century as decreasing supply across a drought-prone Prairies intersects with increasing demand, intensive regulation and practices, antiquated licensing, and geopolitical tension. Deficient policy and investment and insufficient national water policy.

Wendy Holm, P.Ag.(Ret’d), M.M.C.C.U.
Topic – Peace River Hydoelectric Dams i.e. Existing Bennett and Site C dams, proposed Amisk Hydroelectric Dam, trade agreements and US Army Corps of Engineers continental plans to divert Alaskan water into the Peace River and south into the US via the Amisk dam.

Dr. Allen Good, Professor Emeritus, U of A Biological Sciences
Topic – Demand for water by the agricultural sector, and how that integrates with the changes in available water due to climate change. Water agreements in S. Alberta and Sask.

4) Martin Z. Olszynski, LL.M, LL.B., B.Sc. Associate Professor and Chair in Energy, Resources and Sustainability Faculty of Law, University of Calgary – Martin previously worked as legal counsel for Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
Topic– Alberta rules around water licensing and prohibitions on inter-basin transfers.

Please join us to help determine the future of our most precious resource – water.

Website : https://edmontoncouncilofcanadians.ca/

RSVP E-mail : edmontoncouncil@yahoo.ca

International Day of Action for Rivers – Mill Creek Proposal

Come celebrate the International Day of Action for Rivers with a public screening of the Canadian documentary Lost Rivers and a discussion about our proposal for the Mill Creek Ravine.

You’ll learn about the importance of our waterways and will leave feeling inspired to advocate for positive change. 

When: Thursday, March 13 starting at 7:00 pm.
Where: Strathcona Public Library, 8331 -104 Street

Annual General Meeting for 2024 – Jan. 26, 2025

We welcome you to join us in person or online for our Edmonton Chapter Council of Canadians 2024 Annual General Meeting and celebratory gathering.

Date: Sunday, January 26, 2025, 2-5 PM 

Location: Ukrainian Centre – 11018-97 Street NW Edmonton

Time/Schedule:

  • 2:00-3:00 pm: Chapter reports & election of officers
  • 3:00-4:00 pm: Discussion/Sharing Circle 
  • 4:00-5:00 pm: Social – Snacks and non-alcoholic drink to be provided. Food contributions optional but appreciated. Possibly some music.

Registration:

  • Please RSVP at edmontoncouncil@yahoo.ca   
  • Please indicate whether you choose to participate Online or In Person so that we can plan for the food and refreshments . 

We are looking forward to spending time sharing hopes for meaningful action in the coming year and opportunities for members and guests to participate.

2024 Edmonton Chapter Activism Reports 

We will present brief reports on our activism in 2024 including the following:

  • Peter – Tarsands Tailings * Responsible Tailings Management Alliance – Organized information table and Press Conference at International Oil Sands Tailings Conference at the U of A Dec 9-10
  • Sherry – Range of issues and work on AER and their industry-dominated decisions as well as municipal issues such as the City of Edmonton Carbon Budget, and federal petitioning on fossil fuel issues such as the Federal Emissions Cap.  
  • Josefine – Joined National Board, Opposed Royal Bank of Canada funding of fossil fuels. Numerous communications with the Alberta Energy Regulator over Government of Alberta conflict of interest in fossil fuel projects such as Grassy Mountain coal mining. 
  • Corinne – Work on Peace Movement, especially on condemnation of the Israeli attacks on Palestinians and NATO role in the Russian war on Ukraine
  • Kevin – Water and Watersheds and Wetlands – Formed a working group to protection Alberta watersheds
  • Robert – Work with C4RE Coalition seeking to reform or eliminate the Alberta Energy Regulator. Pharmacare. 
  • Rod – Opposed lack of effective regulation of various toxic pesticides such  as glyphosate and chlorpyrofos with groups like Pesticide Free Edmonton. 
  • Richard – Organized a public in-person event discussing the history of AB wildfires – especially during 2024 – along with the inadequacies of AB Provincial lwildfire management. 

We welcome all active members of the Council of Canadians, our allies and supporters as well as interested members of the public. 

Hope to see you at 2:00 pm on Sunday December 10, 2025.

Regards, 

Robert Wilde

Co-Chair Edmonton Chapter 

edmontoncouncil@yahoo.ca   

For queries, you can contact me at 780 966 6804 or wrfb07@gmail.com