Dec 20

A Letter to Maude Barlow at the Council of Canadians

  • December 20, 2011

"Maude Barlow addresses an anti-tar sands protest on Parliament Hill."

I was talking with Ruth Meta on December 16th, when she told me that Bob Ages  from the Council of Canadians was going to be taking over mediation of Occupy Vancouver’s moderated Facebook page. We both did some research and felt uncomfortable with the transparency in OV’s relationship.

Ruth wrote the letter below and I decided I would also sent it as my personal request. Here is the content of the letter- my next two postings will include responses.

The response to this letter can be found here:  Letter From  Gary Neil…

Maude Barlow
Council of Canadians
Ottawa, Ontario

Ms. Barlow:
I have been a supporter and follower of the Council of Canadians for over 30 years. It is the one Canadian organisation I have truly put my faith into … until yesterday.

I must ask you some very straightforward questions:

1. What is the position of the Council of Canadians around the Occupy Movement, does it “support” the movement, or is it trying to take a leadership role in it?

2. How do “directors” of the CoC get chosen, are they “paid” employees and what is their role in taking leadership of movements such as Occupy?

3. Do directors of the CoC require any kind of authority from the Council of Canadians to act as individuals in their respective political duties or, if they act as representatives of the Council, must they seek approval from the Council itself?

I ask these questions because it has recently been brought to light that some of the directors out here on the west coast are taking on some pretty pivotal roles related to Occupy and it is, for me, quite problematic. If they act as individual citizens, there’s not much anyone can say or do, but if they are acting as representatives of theCouncil of Canadians, I have serious reservations as to whether or not I want to remain a member of the CoC.

It is all well and good that CoC would support the Occupy Movement. That being said, to influence the decision-making of Occupy through financial supports and taking on leadership, is quite another thing. This is NOT the Occupy Movement, sponsored by the Council of Canadians or unions or the NDP or anyone else … if it is, then I respectfully will cease my donations to the Council.I am VERY concerned about the connections and behavior of some of the west coast directors and would appreciate a response from you as soon as possible. I have added a couple of links from my blog that give more detail to this discussion:http://www.genuinewitty.com/2011/12/16/news-alert-bob-ages/

Greg Renouf,
Vancouver, BC

Greg Renouf

Permanent link to this article: http://www.genuinewitty.com/2011/12/20/a-letter-to-maude-barlow-at-the-council-of-canadians/

6 pings

  1. […] as you are he as you are me and we are all together… Skip to content HomeAbout ← A Letter to Maude Barlow at the Council of Canadians My Response to Mr Neil of The Council of Canadians […]

  2. […] written to the Council of Canadians before- more than once. It all began when Ruth Meta sent a letter to Maude Barlow, asking her to explain why a prominent member of Occupy Vancouver has been repressing people and […]

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  4. […] A Letter to Maude Barlow at the Council of Canadians (genuinewitty.wordpress.com) […]

  5. […] brought-up the issue of this criminality to the Council of Canadians. I wrote a letter to Maude Barlow, have had several communications, including a direct phone call, with their administrative head […]

  6. […] the help of Gregor Roberton’s friends at Tides, and Maude Barlow’s  Council of Canadians… The event is aimed at youth to learn about taking non-violent, […]

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