Published by Communications and Public Affairs (519) 824-4120, Ext. 56982 or 53338
News Release
January 10, 2005
Council of Canadians head to speak at U of G
One of Canada’s most well-known social activists, Maude Barlow, will speak in War Memorial Hall Jan. 19 at 5:30 p.m. as part of the University of Guelph’s Citizenship Awareness Month. Admission is free for students and $7 for faculty, staff and community members.
As the national chair of the Council of Canadians, Canada’s largest citizens’ advocacy organization, Barlow aims to safeguard social programs, promote economic justice, renew democracy, assert Canadian sovereignty, advance alternatives to corporate-style free trade and preserve the environment. She is a director with the International Forum on Globalization and co-founder of the Blue Planet Project, an international effort to protect the world's fresh water from the growing threats of trade and privatization.
In the 1980s, Barlow served as senior adviser on women’s issues to then prime minister Pierre Trudeau. She also worked as a volunteer on a landmark human rights challenge of the Kingston Prison for Women, established the Ottawa Task Force on Wife Assault and led a national coalition against violent pornography on television.
Barlow is the author of 13 books, including Parcel of Rogues: How Free Trade is Failing Canada; Class Warfare: The Assault on Canada’s Schools; and Blue Gold: The Battle to Stop Corporate Theft of the World’s Water.
The university will also mark Citizenship Awareness Month with workshops on leadership Jan. 18, 19 and 20 from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in Room 441 and Room 332 of the University Centre, a leadership conference for first-year students Jan. 22 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and a panel discussion on women in leadership Jan. 26 from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in Room 441 of the University Centre.
On Jan. 28, “One World,” a multicultural celebration, will be held in War Memorial Hall. It will feature performers from the Aboriginal Resource Centre, the Latino Cultural Society, the Indian Student Association and the Munford Centre. Monetary donations for tsunami victims will be collected as an admission fee.
Citizenship Awareness Month will conclude Feb. 1 with a free citizens’ breakfast at 8 a.m. in the Bullring.
For more details, visit www.studentlife.uoguelph.ca/citizenleader/explore/citizenship_month.htm.
For media questions, contact Communications and Public Affairs: Lori Bona Hunt (519) 824-4120, Ext. 53338, or Rachelle Cooper, Ext. 56982.
