The Council of Canadians

08/20/2026

08/19/2026

The CEOs of BlackRock, Blackstone and other representatives of the global 1% are coming to Toronto this September. On the menu? Privatized airports and water systems. Pipelines and toll roads. Ports and AI data centres. Housing and mineral deposits from stolen Indigenous land.
The money has its summit. We’re organizing ours.

The “Many vs the Money” counter-summit at OCAD University will open with a keynote conference from Naomi Klein and Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor and special guests on Saturday, Sept 12, an all-day teach-in featuring Indigenous land defenders, movement organizers, and labour activists on Sept 13 and a protest against PM Carney’s privatization summit on Monday, Sept 14 at 6:00 pm.

This is a multi-day movement-building event not to be missed - space is limited; register now!

Tickets available at: manyvsmoneysummit.ca

08/18/2026

"Groups like Stop the Data Centres and the Council of Canadians have even published how-to guides and digital toolkits for first-time campaigners, teaching them how to be effective council watchdogs—or how to resist projects altogether, if it comes to that. Some organizers, for example, are creating trackers that will make it easier for voters to cast ballots based on candidates’ data-centre views. Hamilton, no doubt, will see the impacts of these tactics during its election this October."
As seen in Macleans.

If you'd like to download a copy of our How to Guide to resist Data Centres in your community go herehttps://aicivilsociety.ca/ResistingAIDataCentreDevelopmentinCanada-June2026.pdf

08/14/2026

From CBC News, Aug 12th, 2026

Band members were in attendance Tuesday afternoon at the Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation Community Hall, as community leaders and legal counsel hosted their first engagement session to inform residents of what the proposed Wonder Valley AI data centre campus could mean for their traditional territory.

Members said they still have many questions, and the company behind the project was not in attendance to field them.

O’Leary Digital’s proposed $70-billion, nine-gigawatt facility in the Municipal District of Greenview is roughly located 130 kilometres southwest of the SLCN reserve.

In his presentation to community members, SLCN lawyer Francco De Luca outlined the history of the project, concerns, and regulatory and consultory hurdles that the project still has to clear.

“Consultation is in place to obviously uphold the Crown’s Aboriginal treaty rights, and associated regulatory processes — whether it’s the Water Act, or the Environmental Protection Enhancement Act — they’re there for a reason,” De Luca said after the presentation in an interview, noting that those pieces of legislation are in place to protect Alberta’s water and environment.

De Luca pointed to the exemption of a provincial impact assessment and SLCN’s ongoing judicial review surrounding the project’s water license as key examples as to why he’s worried about the project.

Heat emitted from the facility, noise, and wildlife — all topics which were also discussed during O’Leary Digital’s June open house — were all topics De Luca mentioned during the presentation.

De Luca said the proposed development, which is earmarked for about 64 square kilometres along Highway 40, is “in the heart of Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation’s territory,” near where hunting and trapping take place.

SLCN Chief Sheldon Sunshine says that as recently as early August, his family hosted a traditional camp just north of the proposed facility site. They harvested plants to use as medicine and his 12-year old grandson bagged a moose.

“That was my grandson’s first moose. For our family, that’s pretty significant,” Sunshine said, noting that other community members also use the land between the proposed site and their community.

“They’re taking that away from us, really, at the end of the day,” Sunshine said.

08/14/2026

Our very own Marion Moore, member of the South Shore chapter of the Council of Canadians, spoke with the CTV news in Bridgewater, NS.

“Following the incidents in Wolfville, people were afraid and we decided that we can’t be silenced and we need to speak up,” said Marion Moore, a member of the South Shore chapter of the Council of Canadians, an advocacy group.

“People are here with their own issues. We all have something that matters most to us.”

One protest sign said: “no to uranium mining” while another called for “climate justice.”

The striking CUPW members who work for Emergency Medical Care said their wages aren’t keeping up with the cost of living.

“We are here because we want the finance minister and Tim Houston to actually notice because he got elected on a health-care reform platform and we are a lynchpin of healthcare,” says Ryan Hayes-O’Sullivan, a senior communications officer.

Bridgewater Mayor David Mitchell said the protesters on Tuesday organized themselves well.

“When I drove in, there were a lot of protesters, peaceful protesters acting respectfully and responsibly,” Mitchell said. “That is the beauty of this country.

“With their signs and with their chants and songs; all the power to them, that’s how you do it.”

“People have opinions in the province and I value that,” Premier Tim Houston said. “It would be rare that I didn’t stop and hear that and engage like that.

“I enjoy that and it is necessary for our democracy. Sometimes you can tell when a crowd doesn’t want to engage.”

While he delivered remarks to those inside – talking about next steps for the province and answering questions – the protesters remained outside with signs.

08/11/2026

Yesterday, Vice Chair of the Council of Canadians, Malcolm Lewis-Richmond, visited striking Bank of Canada workers who have been on strike, and Montreal staff have been locked out for 50 days as of today. Solidarity ✊

08/05/2026